Jamaica to launch oil and gas tender round Nov. 22

Jamaica's government and state oil company PCJ plan to launch the island's first ever international oil and gas exploration tender round for 26 offshore and onshore blocks on Nov. 22, PCJ said in a statement.

Bidding rules will be available from Jan. 1, 2005, and bids must be submitted by July 15.

The tender is for 22 offshore blocks and four onshore blocks, which "cover all of the Jamaican region," PCJ director Raymond Wright told BNamericas.

With the price of oil at an all-time high, and with the island currently importing 90% of its energy needs, "Jamaica intends to offer exceptionally good terms to companies to ensure that this resource is developed as speedily as possible," the statement said.

The offshore blocks are south of the island and most of them are in shallow water but a few lie in deepwater, Wright said.

Seven or eight of these blocks lie in the Walton basin and 2D seismic studies indicate that possible reserves for the basin could be in the order of 2 Bbbl and 10 tcf of gas, he said, adding: "Such estimates are always theoretical."

The Walton basin is reported to be geologically similar to the Malampaya gas field in the Philippines or the tertiary petroleum systems of Java and Sumatra, Nick Cameron, project geologist at British consulting firm Jebco Seismic, was quoted as saying in the statement.

To date, 53 structures have been identified offshore in "modest" water depths and of the 11 exploration wells drilled so far (two onshore, nine offshore) 10-revealed oil and/or gas, the statement said.

"There are strong indications that multiple petroleum systems may be present," the statement said.

The onshore blocks are the Negril, Santa Cruz, Portland, and Windsor blocks.

The exploration licenses are for five years and, if oil and gas are found, production-sharing contracts with the government would be for 20 years and extendible to 30 years if necessary, Wright said.

11-11-04