Minister of Energy Has Petrojam Situation Under Control

Minister of Energy and Mining Hon. James Robertson this morning (June 4) toured the Port Esquivel facility in Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine, to explore the possibility of using its docking and storage facilities as an alternative to the damaged Petrojam dock which is temporarily out of service.
“We met with the port operators at Port Esquivel early this morning and we looked at the physical layout, the capacity of their tanks and the options and services that they can provide to us. We also took note of their proximity to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Old Harbour Power Station and the private providers of electricity”, the Minister informed, while emphasising that “there is no agreement in place at this time but it would not take much to reach one to make sure that there is no disruption in the supply of petroleum to JPS”.
Continuing, he explained that “what we have seen has left us with a lot of hope for the future. As it is now we don’t believe that we are going to need this facility but we went through the exercise nonetheless to get a feel and understanding of what the Ministry will have to do if in the future a crisis was to really be on hand.”
He further stated that “it is important for our nation’s energy security that we know what our options are even moreso now that we are in the hurricane season and we can’t decide what eventualities we will face in the future.”
This morning’s tour of Port Esquivel was a part of the Government’s contingency plan to ensure that there is no disruption in the supply of petroleum products to Jamaica.
On Monday June 1, 2009 at approximately 2315 hrs the ship M/T Great News, which was transporting crude oil to the Petrojam Refinery, collided into the company’s dock, causing severe damage.