UNITED Oil Plc, the British-based company with the licence to explore for oil and gas off Jamaica’s south coast has floated the prospect of the country getting involved in producing aluminium if it is successful in finding hydrocarbons in commercial quantities.

The company made the play as part of options it presented to potential partners it is targetting to help it foot the bill to drill for the at-least seven billion barrels of oil it believes is present in Jamaican waters. The presentation was made in an investor evening held last week.

During that briefing, the company told potential investors that the oil and gas, if found, could be marketed to companies for “in-country refinement of raw bauxite ore and export of higher value aluminium products”.

It indicated later in the documents the reason why the country’s bauxite industry should be targetted for sale of oil and gas, outlining that it has the highest energy demand of any sector in the country. The potential, as outlined by United Oil and Gas, if realised, can help to boost the sector that is still reeling from shutdowns nearly two decades ago.

Data from the Jamaica Bauxite Institute show that in 2023 just over 6 million tonnes of bauxite were mined, down from 10 million tonnes in 2018. In 2006, the country produced 15 million tonnes of the ore.

And refining it has not been easy. Now Jamaica exports both raw bauxite ore and alumina for processing in other countries to be converted into aluminium.

But the bauxite sector is not the only one United Oil and Gas said it will be targetting.

It points to opportunities to make Jamaica into a “regional hub for energy distribution to the wider Caribbean and beyond…”

United Oil and Gas entered the Jamaican market in 2017 by farming in with Tullow Oil Plc before for a 20 per cent equity before outright acquiring the licence in 2020. It has until January 2026 to decide if it will “drill or drop” the licence 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. The prospects are in the Walton-Morant block, an area of sea stretching the entire length of the country’s south coast which is about twice the size of the island.

It presented photos which show an active hydrocarbon system with both oil and has seeps inland and offshore. Most of the potential fields are off the coast of St Elizabeth and Westmoreland. United Oil and Gas believes the potential from these fields are massive and proposed that they could produce in excess of 1 million barrels of oil per day.

Currently, it said, from 21 leads, it has identified the prospect for 7 billion barrels of oil, but added that leads from previous exploration suggests almost 5 billion more barrels of oil could be present, pushing the total prospects close to 12 billion barrels. If realised, that would propel Jamaica to 16th in the world, above established producers like Brazil, Norway, Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.

But to get that oil, United Oil and Gas needs money to drill for it and has been seeking to woo investors. It said it has already spent US$40 million to gather the data and wants investors to help it foot the cost of drilling.