Jamaica, it seems, almost certainly not unmindful of the transformative effect which Guyana’s giant oil find continues to have on the socio-economic face of the country, is far from ready to give up on its own protracted petro aspirations. Towards the end of January, the Jamaica Gleaner reported that United Oil had secured a two-year extension of the company’s long-standing tilt at striking ‘black gold’ at the country’s Jamaica Offshore Asset, Walton Morant, described in the Gleaner as “an offshore exploration block measuring 8,649 square miles (22,440 square kilometers) and located south of Jamaica.”
A United report asserts that the asset holds 2.4 billion barrels of what another report describes as “unrisked mean prospective resource potential” which, it says, includes “the initial drill ready Colibri prospect of 406 million barrels of “un-risked mean prospective resources.” Jamaica’s Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport reportedly plans to undertake additional technical studies “better defining the prospects and leads identified on the license.” In the wake of the extension of the license by the Jamaican authorities, United is quoted as saying that it can now “build confidently on the ‘farmout’ process carried out to date and re-engage with the recent positive interest that has been shown by other parties in participating in this high impact exploration opportunity, in a region with immense potential”.
