Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
WRIGHT
A SECOND company has been granted oil exploration rights off the coast of Jamaica, says Dr. Raymond Wright, former group managing director of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ).
Dr. Wright, who is responsible for oil exploration within the state-owned PCJ, would not disclose how much the deal with Canadian-based Rainville was worth. He said, however, that the company would begin seismic surveying of its three 2,500 square-kilometre blocks 9, 13, and 14 - of a total of 20 blocks off the south coast, in addition to four onshore - by the end of the year or early 2006.
Under the standard agreement offered to companies, Rainville can prospect for five years and, should they strike oil, will be allowed 20 years of extraction rights under a profit-sharing agreement that could see PCJ take as much as 12.5 per cent.
Australian company Finder Exploration was the first firm to be granted rights following the formal bidding that closed last July. Finder began exploration of its five 2,500-square-kilometre blocks off the south coast earlier this year.
A cautious Dr. Wright told The Gleaner last week, during an oil exploration seminar at PCJ headquarters on Trafalgar Road, New Kingston, coinciding with the state-owned agency's 27th anniversary, that the latest deal provided further optimism in Jamaica's so far fruitless quest for oil.
CASH-RICH NATURE
"We are relatively happy and encouraged so far and moving into drilling in the future the results of which should encourage other companies to take an interest in other blocks," he said.
He added that other companies might also purchase further blocks, given current high oil prices and the cash-rich nature of the oil industry. Talks at the prime ministerial level have already taken place over possible exploration with the state-owned oil companies Petrobras of Brazil and Malaysia's Petronas.
Included in the deals, under the terms of the standard agreement, is a US$20,000 per block/per year surcharge to be used for training and education purposes by the PCJ. This funding will also be used for public events such as the workshop on oil and gas exploration that PCJ will be hosting on July 11.
