By Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter 
Paulwell
WESTERN BUREAU:
MINISTER OF Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell will discuss Jamaica's oil and natural gas exploration prospects at a two-day regional energy ministers' conference now under way in Florida.
"With better and credible data, we have been building the case for our prospects," said Minister Paulwell, in an interview with The Gleaner on Tuesday, before leaving for the conference.
He said, "We are pushing the market and it has been very effective so far." The country will award oil exploration rights in October.
Jamaica will host the representatives of five companies, including Shell and Repsol on Friday. The energy minister said they will be taking the opportunity to do their own research and site inspection before July, the deadline for the receipt of bids.
"We are pleased that they (prospective investors) are coming to Jamaica, as they will be able to interface with the local private sector as well," he said.
Minister Paulwell explained that the process of drilling a well costs $40 million, and so investors would not be charged large sums for leasing areas to drill. "We don't have signature bonds and people will not be charged hefty fees for the leasing of space, but they will have to drill in a certain time," he said.
There are more than 20 potential drilling sites up for allocation, chief among them being, the Walton Basin, an area spanning 150 km off the Pedro Cays.
In the 1970s, Jamaica invested US$18 million (J$11 billion) in oil exploration, but the effort was impeded by the limitations in deep-sea mining efforts at the time, as it was only possible to drill to one kilometre below the surface of the sea.
