The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) will not be able to reveal the full financial nature of the Nigerian oil trading deal due to the nature of its contract with Trafigura Beheer.

Dr. Raymond Wright, senior consultant and former group managing director at the PCJ, said that since the state-owned oil company changed the contract from a profit-sharing to a fixed-figure relationship, it would have no right to inspect the books of Trafigura and reveal the level of the Dutch oil company's profits from the deal.

"They will have to open up their books of their own volition, which is the difficulty of an audit," said Dr. Wright.

Centre of controversy

Trafigura has been at the centre of the controversy that saw the resignation of Minister of Information and Development Colin Campbell for misleading his governing People's National Party colleagues, following the revelation by the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party that the Dutch oil company gave a $31 million 'gift' to the party.

Dr. Wright said that the only time PCJ has had access to Trafigura's books was when it changed from profit-sharing to a fixed-fee contract in 2001 over concerns about the levels of its profits. An international auditor was hired for this exercise.

"We became very concerned that any company that dealt with us on a profit-sharing basis could 'pad' their costs," explained Dr. Wright, who added that the audit did not reveal that Trafigura made large profits from the deal.