By Dennise Williams, Staff reporter
ONCE AGAIN, Jamaica is looking to explore for oil and natural gas. The Government revealed that prospecting would begin by mid 2005. Speaking on Wednesday, Dr. Paul Robertson, Minister of Development in the Office of the Prime Minster said, "We will be drilling for oil and natural gas." As the room erupted in laughter, he quipped, "I'm not joking. We are going to market. The analysis is very positive. We are going to license exploration in blocks. We are very optimistic."
In July, Phillip Paulwell, minister of Commerce, Industry and Technology revealed that, "Experts have found all the necessary ingredients for petroleum."
Conroy Watson, senior director of energy in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Technology shared this optimism, albeit, cautiously. "We are basically saying that we have reason to believe that petroleum and natural gas is here. We are hoping that there is enough commercial quantity to justify the millions of United States dollars required to search. Cuba is 90 miles away and they have oil in commercial quantities, so we don't think that we would be not as blessed."
Mr. Zia Mian, energy advisor to the Prime Minister said, "The quality of the information shows that the probability exists."
SERIOUS ATTEMPT
Jamaica has searched for oil since the 1950s. However, the last serious attempt by a Government to search for oil was in the 1980s when the state controlled Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica spent nearly US$20 million to explore for oil.
Yet, there remains a sceptical element because of past failures. "We so far have not had success. We have a number of wells that were drilled but they have all been dry," Mr. Mian noted.
However, now the approach will be different. First, the Government cannot afford to take up the exploration for oil and natural gas on their own. Zia Mian, "The question is - who should spend the money to find oil and gas? The Government should not put any money into oil and gas exploration. It costs US$2 - $5 million to drill exploration wells. If they turn up dry, the money is lost. So, the next option is to create and market a package that will entice foreign companies to explore for us."
Mr. Watson states, "Exploration technology has advanced in recent years, so the time to explore is now."
Secondly, Jamaica wants a final answer to the question of the availability of oil and natural gas. Mr. Mian said, "We need to have a comprehensive search to determine once and for all if we have enough petroleum and natural gas."
Should things go the Government's way, Mr. Watson said, "We could find ourselves to be net foreign exchange earners. We would like to find enough oil and natural gas for our own use and enough to export."
UGLY ENERGY BILL
Currently, although world oil prices have stabilised, Jamaica faces an ugly energy bill. It is estimated that the country will spend over US$900 million by year-end. In 2003, Jamaica spent a whopping US$813 on fuel. And our appetite for oil is unabated and so the exploration for oil is viewed as a necessary pathway for economic development. Mr. Mian explained that the indirect implications of the cost of importing petroleum is as follows:
Forces the Government to borrow foreign exchange to fund the budget
Drives up the cost of products
Lowers the overall productivity of workers
Inhibits the productive sector's ability to plan ahead
