WEST Indies Petroleum Limited (WIPL) has inked a major deal with Castrol Global Marine & Energy (GME) division, through its subsidiary Island Lubes, to continue marketing lubricants to the marine and power generation sectors in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands over the next three years.

The deal was reportedly signed recently at the BP/Castrol head office in Houston, Texas, and will see WIPL moving to increase its sales to its current customer base.

“We are a big player in the bunkering of fuel to ships and the ships use fuel, but they also use lubricants, and Castrol is the number one brand for marine lubricants sold to ships,” Danville Walker, senior vice-president of West Indies Petroleum Limited, told the Jamaica Observer. In a release the company said, “the agreement will position our customers towards continuing to access outstanding service along with superior Castrol products.”

West Indies Petroleum Limited acquired Island Lubes Distributors Limited in 2019 giving it access to the Castrol brand which its now subsidiary was distributing before and said the renewal of the contract shows the faith BP/Castrol has in the work the entity has been doing.

“This is the start of a push forward to where we have the opportunity to do so. The brand exists elsewhere through other dealers. We don’t have an exclusive deal for the entire region for Castrol but we will seek to increase our stocks so that we are able to supply the ships that come through Jamaica and the Cayman, and as we expand into other areas, we will be carrying our products with us and if necessary, we will negotiate to supply wherever we are,” Walker added.

West Indies Petroleum currently supplies fuel to Guyana, St Kitts, Haiti, Barbados, St Thomas in the Virgin Islands and has an exclusive contract to bunker cruise ships also in St Thomas, Virgin Islands.

“We expect to deliver the full suite of fuel wherever we are. We can also supply lubricants for power generation as well as for marine applications. That’s what we are looking at moving forward. We are growing the brand and we had a good year so far that’s why we were awarded the renewal of this contract,” Walker continued.

On the issue of supplying power generation companies with lubricant, Walker added: “Anywhere you have big diesel engines, lubrication is critical. And because we are a representative of Castrol, then we expect to make a play to supply our products wherever we can. You have to remember that in many places, there already exists a dealer for Castrol products, so we have to be careful where we do our bids. But wherever we can, we will tender to supply power companies or ships in the region. We have to just make sure that we don’t run afoul of our contracts”

He told the Business Observer further: “That’s huge, because when you think of the number of ships that go by Jamaica or come here, they all need lubricants. So we have one of the world’s number one brands available to supply them. They buy oil in drums enuh.”

Castrol is an international corporate leader which is trusted for marine and power generation products which ensure high performance and quality across the globe.