Americas News
Jamaica Needs to Capture its Fair Share of the Bunker Market, Says Official
Dr Andrew Wheatley, Jamaica's Minister of Science, Energy, and Technology, says that following the opening of the Panama Canal expansion, it is important for his country to capture its fair share of the bunker market, local media reports.
The comments came at the recent signing of a $22.5 million (JMD2.8 billion) deal that saw local bunker player West Indies Petroleum (WIP) buy an ethanol dehydration plant from The Jamaica Broilers Group (JB), which it plans to use to expand its bunkering operations.
As Ship & Bunker reported last week, WIP plans to turn 300,000 bbl of the Port Esquivel facility's total 600,000 bbl capacity into bunker fuel storage, a process expected to take around three months.
Wheatley commended WIP for the deal, which is expected to boost the country's overall bunkering ability.
"We're seeing a Jamaican company making a bold move and investing locally. It provides an opportunity to fully utilise the production capacity of the country," he said.
Christopher Levy, President of Jamaica Broilers Group, called the purchase a major development for both the country and WIP.
WIP, who started operations in 2013, currently supplies HFO and MGO via road tank wagon and its two barges, the 42,000 bbl capacity WIP BunkerJam 1, and the 27,000 bbl capacity WIP Endeavor.
