Jamaica’s Energy Minister Daryl Vaz has dismissed as “fake news” social media reports that oil has been discovered on the islands shores.
“I have seen the many posts on social media and received WhatsApps and telephone calls in relation to the fake news circulating on social media in relation to the discovery of oil on our shores or off our shores. As minister, I can categorically state that there is no such thing, it is absolutely fake news,” Vaz said in a statement on Sunday.
Rumours of the alleged discovery of oil the equivalent of seven billion barrels have been spreading like wildfire on social media in recent weeks, however, Vaz said the claims are “untrue” and urged Jamaicans to disregard the rumors.
“I as minister would be the first one to be excited to share any such good news if and when that happens. So until such time… disregard all information in relation to Jamaica’s discovery of oil, it is just simply untrue,” Vaz said.
United Oil Plc, the British-based company with the license to explore for oil and gas off Jamaica’s south coast, has identified fields off the coast of St Elizabeth and Westmoreland as massive in potential and has proposed that they could produce in excess of one million barrels of oil per day.
United Oil and Gas (United Oil) has valued the largest repository within its wider zones of oil exploration offshore Jamaica as being worth J$3.5 trillion, or US$23 billion, at current oil prices.
It still, however, needs to prove that substances that resemble oil are indeed oil, and will require investments to dig the ocean floor for core samples.
“The potential net present value at a 10 per cent discount [is] US$23 billion to United at 100 per cent working interest over the 25-year production life of the licence,” according to United Oil in a statement from CEO Brian Larkin.
The company has until January 2026 to decide if it will “drill or drop” the license but said it will do so before January 2028 in an apparent indication that it wants to go ahead and drill for oil and gas.
