The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is the government entity mandated to manage the country’s energy needs in a manner that supports the overall strategy for national development. Established in 1979 the PCJ is a statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Energy.

The Corporation’s mission is to undertake the development and promotion of Jamaica’s energy resources in support of the National Energy Policy and Vision 2030, the National Development Plan. The PCJ is the parent company of Petrojam Limited, Petrojam Ethanol Limited (PEL), Wigton Windfarm Limited and the Jamaica Aircraft Refuelling Services (JARS).

The PCJ’s mandate includes driving the diversification of Jamaica’s energy supply and facilitating the infusion of renewable energy into the country’s energy mix. In fulfilment of this, the Corporation focuses on four main areas; promoting energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable energy sources, facilitating the production of biofuels and driving Oil & Gas Exploration.

At the centre of the drive to diversify Jamaica's energy sources is Oil & Gas Exploration. As the agency with responsibility for the development of Jamaica's energy resources, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is actively seeking investment for exploration and drilling in Jamaica's onshore and offshore areas. The Corporation is currently on an aggressive marketing campaign to promote Jamaica's potential as an oil producer and to forge business alliances that will result in the full exploitation of this potential.

Exploration Activities

Exploration activities in Jamaica have occurred in two phases. The earlier phase spanned 1955 - 1973, done by private companies, and more recently 1978 - 1982 by the PCJ.

Between 1955 and 1973, seven exploratory wells were drilled, one offshore and six onshore. Immediately following on the establishment of the state-owned Petroleum Corporation in 1979, the momentum of activity increased with the drilling of an additional three wells onshore and one offshore during the period 1980-1981.

With advancements in the geological and geophysical sciences over the past two decades, Jamaica is being viewed through "new" exploration lenses and is likely to benefit from this reawakening of interest in frontier provinces inside the Caribbean.

Further, recent studies have shown that structures in the Walton Basin may contain significant economic quantities of hydrocarbons. The same obtains for those blocks, on the coastal side of western, eastern and particularly southeastern Jamaica, all of which show the potential for important commercial finds of both oil and gas.

Joint Regime Area

A Joint Regime Area between Jamaica and Colombia, situated south of the Pedro Bank was established by Treaty on November 12, 1993. On November 4th 2008, an agreement was signed between the two countries for the conduct of surveys relating to the hydrocarbon potential of the 52,000 square km area. It is expected that some seismic surveys will be conducted over parts of the Joint Regime Area possibly in the second half of 2009. Subsequently, the intention is to subdivide the area into exploration blocks and attract activity from exploration companies.

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