THE GOVERNMENT'S project to introduce natural gas to the local energy mix is on target, with a 2006/07 date set for implementation.
Ambassador Anthony Hylton, Special Envoy in the Office of the Prime Minister, said that by month-end, a decision should be reached as to the financial and investment advisors for the project. He noted that already, proposals have been received from three of the world's leading financial advisors in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) business.
Ambassador Hylton, who was giving an update on the project at the Management Institute for National Development's (MIND) Friday Policy Forum recently, informed that a number of measures have already been put in place to facilitate the introduction of the project, including the recent launch of the National Energy Diversification Strategy (NEDS) and the receipt of a US$750,000 grant from the Japanese Trust Fund, managed by the Inter-American Development Bank, to conduct a feasibility study.
In addition, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided a technical assistance grant to assist with the legal, financial and regulatory advisory services to prepare for the project, while the Houston law firm of King & Spalding, in association with Myers, Fletcher and Gordon, are on board and is assisting with the preliminary specialist legal work.
Further, Ambassador Hilton announced, an invitation would soon be issued for proposals for advisory services on the development of a regulatory framework, for the introduction of natural gas into Jamaica.
Ambassador Hylton informed the MIND Forum that initially, Jamaica would require approximately 1 to 1.2 million tons of LNG, to supply the domestic power and bauxite sectors.
He also noted that there was potential for the re-export of the product. "Jamaica's strategic location will make it attractive for LNG producers to establish a re-export hub in Jamaica," he said.
Ambassador Hylton told the forum that the introduction of natural gas to the local energy mix would "satisfy a multiplicity of development objectives." Among these are security of energy supplies; long term stability of prices; improvement in energy use; reduction in green house gases and a cleaner environment; and development of an industrial park using natural gas.
It will also serve to reduce Jamaica's hefty oil bill, calculated at US$640 million last year, in the face of export earnings of US$837 million. This year, expenditure on oil imports is projected to be in excess of US$700 million. The MIND Friday Policy Forum is held on the last Friday of every month, and is designed to disseminate information of national importance. The presenter for July was James Moss-Solomon, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Grace, Kennedy and Company Limited, and Executive in Residence at Mona School of Business. He spoke on the topic, "Transforming the Mindset of the Private Sector to face Globalisation."
