OIL PROSPECTING off the south coast of Jamaica could begin as early as this weekend.
A seismic testing vessel, Akademic Shatskiy, operated by Norwegian company Fugro is currently moored in Kingston Harbour. Their services were employed by Finder Exploration Ltd., an Australian company which was recently granted a licence by the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology.
10 WEEKS OF TESTING
Seismic testing is expected to last 10 weeks. Data processing is expected to take six to seven weeks, upon which time Finder Exploration will decide whether Jamaica has viable oil deposits, or not.
The exploitable offshore area is divided into 12 blocks and this project will explore blocks seven, 10, 11 and 12. This will be the fifth time that a seismic survey has been conducted offshore Jamaica. Based on available data, two wells were drilled, Pedro Bank 1 in 1970 and Arawak 1 in 1982. Neither of these wells found commercial oil or gas deposits.
