Another energy setback!!

[Don1]

..when will the bad news stop in this portfolio?

Petrojam upgrade faces long delay
Published: Friday | September 11, 2009


WORK TO expand and upgrade the Petrojam oil refinery, a partnership between the Government of Jamaica and its Venezuelan counterpart, has been pushed back to 2014. The project was projected for completion this year.
Assurances were given yesterday that the US$63-million contribution made by the Venezuelan Government for its 49 per cent stake in the project was placed in the Consolidated Fund.

"The funds are in a special account in the Consolidated Fund and will be available," said Hillary Alexander, newly appointed permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Energy.

Strategic planning

Commenting on the Petrojam project, Andrea Reid, manager of strategic planning at the state-owned oil refinery, said a number of factors delayed the start of the project.

Addressing Parliament's Public Administration and Appropriations Committee yesterday, Reid blamed the delays on the procurement process and changes in the scope of the project.

She said in 2007, a decision was made to do the project in a single phase as against the two-phased approach that was previously agreed on.

Project expanded

"So the scope of the project expanded to about twice the size of what it was originally," Reid said, adding that the front-end engineering design (FEED) study had taken twice as long as was originally planned.

Reid divulged that SNC Lavalin, an engineering and construction firm in Montreal, Canada, had completed the FEED study and had handed it over to Petrojam in July this year.

"We are in the process of reviewing those FEED books for final acceptance," she said.

Plans to upgrade and expand the refinery were initiated in 2004.

[Exile]

Petrojam needs new leadership, a new vison...it's just same old, same old....

[Muadib]

18 years of Termite infestation..

Mi nuh envy Bruce at all !!

[Willi]

Gippsland Offshore Petroleum Provides Update on Jamaica Project

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Gippsland Offshore Petroleum is a 50% equity partner in the Jamaica Joint Venture (JJV) that has 5 exploration permits over 14,500km2 of frontier exploration acreage offshore Jamaica over the majority of the Walton Basin.

Award of the project followed an open bid and the JJV signed contracts with the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) in 2006. The technology agreement between Gippsland Offshore and BHP Billiton was a key factor for the Company to map the large area that covers many protected reefs and atolls. This technology is known as FALCON®, an airborne gravity gradiometer (AGG) system that is a non-invasive exploration tool. The presence of thick carbonate rocks in the geological section meant that historically, seismic quality was poor and measurements of other rock properties (such as density in the case of AGG) were important to help in the interpretation of the geological data.

The area was of great interest to the Company as it had been ignored for twenty years by the exploration community. However, of the 11 wells that had been drilled in and around the basin, 10 of them had oil shows proving a working hydrocarbon generating system. The presence of oil and gas seeps both onshore and offshore adds strength to this case. The last well was drilled in 1978 and the old seismic data was poor.

Exploration
The JJV signed 5 year exploration licences with the PCJ and has now completed the exploration commitments to the end of 2010. Over the initial two year period, the JJV has spent almost US$13million on exploration over the blocks comprising 24,000 line kms of AGG data, 7,000kms of long offset 2D seismic, reprocessing 12,560kms of pre-existing seismic data and geological and geophysical studies to integrate and interpret these data. Although there is no well commitment until year 5 of the permits, the JJV would like to commence drilling as soon as feasible.

Gippsland Offshore has been leading the geological and geophysical data interpretation and prospect mapping on behalf of the JJV. The JJV has established that the Walton Basin has potential to house multi million barrel oil and gas fields. The combination of the AGG and 2D seismic has been effective in producing a 3D geological model of the basin and fast-tracking the understanding of the structural framework of the basin. To date, seven prospects have been mapped with upside potential for greater than 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Farm-out progress
The JJV got underway in seeking a farm-in partner for progressing these prospects to drilling early in 2008 using the services of IndigoPool, a Schlumberger subsidiary that specialises in assisting companies complete farm-outs. The onset of the global financial crisis coinciding with the high oil prices of the second half of 2008 resulted in oil companies focusing on oil production and bringing near term production on stream as soon as possible. As a result, there was reluctance from companies to take on new, frontier projects and the advice from IndigoPool has been to take the project to market again mid 2009 when the stabilisation of the oil price will see companies starting to get on with business as usual.

Jamaica project fundamentals
The fundamentals of the Jamaica project are very strong:
• Five large, offshore blocks covering 90+% of the Walton Basin
• Working petroleum system proven by oil and gas shows and detected seeps
• Opportunity rich – Eocene to Jurassic multiple play concepts with many leads/prospects in each (e.g. basin floor fans, reefal build-ups, and horst blocks, tilted fault blocks, gentle folds of marine clastics and carbonates, and fluvio-deltaics)
• New 2D Seismic and AGG data covering the majority of the area
• Provenance and reservoir/seal study
• Cretaceous and Tertiary source rock studies and geochemical modeling
• Large potential: an inventory of leads - each holding several hundred million bbl in place
• Excellent fiscal terms and 15 year income tax concession period
• Significant future energy needs onshore Jamaica (bauxite / alumina / electricity) for both oil and gas
• Geographical advantage - close to the large North America gas market in the case of a very large gas discovery

See Also

• » Jamaica
• » Central America
• » Subscription Benefits
• » Printer Friendly

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[Willi]

Business
Turning cold water into cold cash in the Caribbean
Friday, July 17, 2009
Urging island nations to harness the power of the oceans for their energy needs, development experts have unveiled some of the world's most innovative technologies using cold sea water.
JOURDAN... both OTEC and seawater air conditioning can also produce fresh water daily by capturing condensation from the cold water pipes "We're talking about using cold sea water to make cold, hard cash," said Lelei TuiSamoa LeLaulu, referring to sea water air conditioning (SWAC) and a similar technology, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), which generates energy by harnessing the difference between deep ocean water and warmer surface water.
"It does not make sense to import expensive, dirty oil from thousands of miles away when the ocean surrounding us can give us our energy needs," declared LeLaulu, president of SOS Caribe, a company pioneering the use of cold water technologies.
David Jourdan, a noted ocean explorer featured on National Geographic and Discovery channels and president of Common Heritage Corporation, which pioneered cold water use in Hawaii, added that both OTEC and seawater air conditioning can also produce fresh water daily by capturing condensation from the cold water pipes.
"SkyWater farms" can produce 50,000 gallons per day, said Jourdan, a world renowned deep water explorer involved in the exploration of the Titanic and leader of the team which located the Israeli submarine Dakar.
Cold water agriculture, which passes cold water pipes underground had made soils extraordinarily productive and reduced the need for surface watering, reported Jourdan, who operates experimental "ColdAg" farms.
Many of the technologies promoted by SOS Caribe were developed by the legendary deep sea scientist and Common Heritage Corporation founder, Dr John Craven, who has been involved in every major ocean innovation in the United States over the past 40 years.
Addressing the growing importance of carbon trading, SOS Caribe director Jaime Moreno observed "the use of cold water technologies is not only immensely sustainable but is also a valuable clean development mechanism asset".
Speaking at FUNGLODE, a leading think tank in the capital of the Dominican Republic set up by its President Leonel Fernández, prominent local businessman Moreno, who owns the country's largest ice cream company, said SOS Caribe wanted to launch the first commercial use of sea water air conditioning in his country "at a time when global warming was increasing the demand for air cooling. Then we'll expand to other countries in the region".
A key player in the development of competitiveness clusters in the Dominican Republic, Moreno points to unpredictable oil prices on the world market and expensive fossil fuels for the wider Caribbean region: "To be really competitive we have to drastically slash our energy costs and these cold water technologies can cut energy bills by 80 per cent."
Charlotte Vick, who serves as ocean content editor for Google Earth, believes that accessibility of bathymetric data now available on Google Earth 5.0 is a significant improvement in evaluating appropriate activity in the ocean: "This new tool provides the opportunity to evaluate our actions in the ocean carefully to be sure we conserve and restore the ocean's resources."
"These cold water technologies were developed with tens of millions of US and Japanese taxpayer dollars for over 20 years," she noted, adding, "it's the markets, industries and tourism facilities close to sea water, which have finally matured enough to recognise the commercial value of these systems - and to start using them to cut energy costs and boost profits."
SOS Caribe (Soluciones Sostenibles) specialises in designing and implementing commercially productive sustainable development programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

[Assasin]

PM to receive report on access to cheaper forms of energy Friday, 11 September 2009 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }

James Robertson.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding is to receive a report in two weeks on plans for Jamaica to access cheaper forms of energy.

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }Energy Minister James Robertson is to make a presentation to the Prime Minister on September 24 on the roll-out of Liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the country seeks cheaper and varying energy sources.

Mr. Robertson says a Ministry Committee met several times over the last two months and a request for final proposals from interested companies will be issued next month.

Hundreds of proposals have reportedly been received from companies interested in aspects of the LNG roll-out.

The Energy Minister says a Jamaican team will attend the 24th World Gas Conference slated for Argentina from October 3-9 to have a final look at how a Floating storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) operates.

An FSRU is a facility that receives LNG from off-loading carriers for plants
[ Back ]

[Mosiah]

The Energy Minister says a Jamaican team will attend the 24th World Gas Conference slated for Argentina from October 3-9 to have a final look at how a Floating storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) operates.

Uh-oh! The Jamaican team be will comprised of how many persons? Will Babsy and Ed Bartlett be a part of that team? How about Bobby Montague?

[Assasin]

you asking or you telling?

[Mosiah]

yuh did see di 3 question mark dem?

[Don1]

Petrojam needs new leadership, a new vison...it's just same old, same old....

It's the political leadership which is backward. Petrojam is a political animal.

The energy portfolio is in a shambles...they have no clue.

[Muadib]

Another development you missed Rip Van Winkle...

Nuh worry doh.. "Wi working on it"

Termites, Termites everywhere...

LOL !!

[Muadib]

Not bad for someone that was out of practise for 18 years....



Remember though.. pace yuhself..is a loooong time yuh gwine have..

lol

[Muadib]

Worse thing that coulda happen to Jamaica..

[Mosiah]

yuh nuh wish Jamaica nuh good! you and HL fi gwey!

[Muadib]

"The underdevelopment of the third world is marked by a number of common traits; distorted and highly dependent economies devoted to producing primary products for the developed world and to provide markets for their finished goods; traditional, rural social structures; high population growth; and widespread poverty. Nevertheless, the third world is sharply differentiated, for it includes countries on various levels of economic development. And despite the poverty of the countryside and the urban shantytowns, the ruling elites of most third world countries are wealthy."

Now... which of us is the villian.. the ones that want to pepetuate this or the ones that want to stop the cycle..

The Bauxite ting nevah teach yuh nutten ?

Ah Bwoy.. give us vision lest we perish..

Brazil were blessed to discover oil AFTER their developed independence from the trap !!

Same blessing mi a wish fi Jamaica... yuh a wish curse pon wi...