The value of crude oil imports by Jamaica last year grew by 50.0 per cent to US$580.9 million compared with 2020 according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ), 2021 edition.

According to the survey, the growth was driven by an increase of 49.6 per cent to US$71.0 in the average cost per barrel of crude oil, reflecting the rise in international crude oil prices.

“The volume of crude oil imported remained relatively flat at 8.2 million barrels. Brazil continued to be Jamaica’s largest supplier of crude oil, with imports increasing to 5.9 million barrels from 4.8 million barrels, followed by Colombia, which decreased from 2.9 million barrels to 1.9 million barrels,” said the ESSJ.

It noted that the value of refined products imported by Petrojam grew to US$425.2 million from US$190.8 million For imports of petroleum products by bauxite companies, the value increased to US$95.7 million from US$86.3 million, and for petroleum products imported by the marketing companies the value rose to US$286.8 million from US$224.0 million.

“The country’s oil bill (total value of crude oil, refined product imports and LNG imports) increased to US$1.69 billion from US$1.08 billion, mainly reflecting the rise in international oil prices,” the survey said.

Meanwhile, the petroleum products surveyed recorded mixed sales for Petrojam.

The ESSJ said the decrease in sales of fuel oil may be attributed to a drive within the energy sector to decrease the use of Heavy Fuel Oil in favour of the more environmentally friendly LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).

The survey also found that Jamaica’s total energy consumption declined by 7.3 per cent to 17.1 million Barrel of Oil Equivalent (BOE).

“This reduction resulted from a decrease of 8.8 per cent to 14.4 million BOE in consumption from petroleum-based sources which outweighed an increase of 1.8 per cent to 2.6 million BOE in consumption from alternative energy sources,” said the ESSJ.

It added that the decline in use of petroleum-based sources was due to a reduction in usage of five of 10 sources, with fuel oil recording the largest absolute decrease, followed by E10-87. The growth in use of alternative energy sources was pushed by higher usage of all sources, with the exception of wind and bagasse.

Natural Gas recorded the largest increase in consumption among alternative energy sources.