THE Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport (MSETT) Monday announced a two-year extension for United Oil and Gas (UOG) to continue oil and gas exploration activities in the Walton Morant Basin offshore Jamaica.

The extension, said the ministry, comes as a result of comprehensive assessments, technical evaluations, and consultations that highlight the continued importance of the oil and gas sector.

“The agreement will expire on January 31, 2026, or continue if UOG elects to move into the next exploration phase which will be the drilling of a well offshore Jamaica,” a ministry statement said.

During the extension, UOG will execute the necessary stakeholder engagements required to perform in an environmentally sustainable manner. In addition to the planned work in the extension licence, UOG will continue to identify potential partners from around the world to farm into the Walton Morant Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

UOG has exclusive rights to explore for oil and gas resources in the Walton Morant Basin by way of the PSA signed in 2014.

The extension request, submitted by UOG to the ministry, is an aggressive work programme that incorporates technical data acquisition in the offshore by way of seabed sampling after in-depth environmental permitting and stakeholder engagement. UOG will seek to reprocess and revise the 3-D seismic data acquired in 2018 with new technologies to better enhance the imaging of the offshore around the main prospects after this has been completed.

According to the ministry, the technical work programme presented will seek to further de-risk the Walton Morant Basin in an attempt to better understand the likelihood of oil and gas offshore the island.

Jamaica has seen a considerable uptick in major oil companies looking at its prospects as the hydrocarbon exploration in the region moves forward since last year.

“The aim of the Government and the MSETT in 2024 and beyond will be to high-grade and de-risk identified prospects through international partnerships with an attempt to drill a well offshore, which will be the first in over 40 years,” said the ministry statement.

It said that it continues to remain cautiously optimistic in this search for oil and gas and will remain transparent by providing a platform for companies to explore oil and gas opportunities in Jamaica.