THE Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is undertaking a public education campaign on its oil and gas exploration programme.

Manager for Corporate Affairs and Communication at the PCJ, Camille Taylor, said the focus is primarily on the activities being undertaken off the island’s south coast by the United Kingdom (UK) company, Tullow Oil.

Taylor, who was addressing a recent JIS News Think Tank, said oil and gas exploration is very new to Jamaica, and encouraged persons to learn more about the work being done.

“The moment we start talking about exploring for oil and finding oil everybody thinks Dubai, high-rise buildings and luxury cars all around,” she said, noting that exploration is a long process.

Comparing the activities to embarking on a PhD, she explained that “where we are now in the process is probably the third year for the bachelor’s degree, still a long way to go, and still many steps along the way”.

She noted that “it can be very rewarding, but we have to be patient and committed”.

“When we signed the production-sharing agreement with Tullow Oil in 2014, our mantra was ‘this is a marathon, not a sprint’, so we are in it for the long haul,” she added.

Taylor informed that information on the PCJ’s oil and gas exploration is available on social media, in the newspapers, on the radio, as well as on the entity’s website, which she said “is a repository for information” on the programme.

Oil and gas exploration activities being undertaken by the PCJ and Tullow Oil will move into high gear with the initiation of the first ever three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey in the waters off Jamaica’s south coast between the Pedro Banks and Portland Cottage this month.

Tullow Oil has already conducted two rounds of two-dimensional seismic surveys of the area.