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Where Does Jamaica Get Gas?

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petrojam_jamaica_gleanerWhere Does Jamaica Get Gas? | Petrojam Jamaica (Photo: Gleaner Jamaica)

by Venesha Johnson | Associate Writer

There has been a consistent rise in gas prices worldwide, and Jamaica has not been exempted from this. This has led many to ask, “Where does Jamaica get gas from?”

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Who supplies Jamaica with gas?

The sole petroleum refinery in Jamaica is called Petrojam, and it is a limited liability company. A full selection of domestic, transportation and industrial petroleum products are offered by Petrojam.

They also run a lab that offers certification and quality control services for petroleum products produced and imported by the refinery. Additionally, the scientific community and businesses in Jamaica are given access to laboratories.

Where does Jamaica get Oil?

Jamaica mostly gets oil from Venezuela and Mexico. PETROJAM imports crude oil, which it then transforms into a variety of goods, such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10), kerosene, turbo fuels, auto diesel fuel oil, and asphalt.

So to fully answer the question, Where does Jamaica get from?

Jamaica produces its own gas through the only petroleum refinery, Petrojam. However, crude oil which is necessary for the production of gas is imported mainly from Mexico and Venezuela.

More about Petrojam

The ESSO Kingston Refinery was built by ESSO in March 1964, and ESSO ran the refinery for 18 years. It was later sold to the Jamaican government in 1982, at which point Petrojam Limited was created. Later in 2006, through its state-owned corporation, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, the Government of Jamaica sold 49% of its shares to PDV Caribe S.A. of Venezuela and the remaining 51% of the company (PCJ).

Through the "The Compulsory Acquisition (shares in Petrojam Limited) Act 2019," which was passed on February 22, 2019, the Government of Jamaica repurchased the 49% stake that Venezuela had held.

Petrojam runs a 35,000-barrel-per-day hydro-skimming refinery that produces asphalt, automotive diesel oil (ADO), gasoline, kerosene/jet fuel, heavy fuel oil (HFO), and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). 10% Ethanol is present in both grades of unleaded gasoline (90 and 87 R+M/2). The business imports Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) to meet market demand.

The company's primary goal is to supply the needs of the domestic market, and it accomplishes this through a combination of finished product importation and refining. Customers include local and international marketing firms, power producers, and aircraft refuelling services.

Products for the home:

LPG- In two grades, Butane and Propane, Petrojam provides Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) to the domestic market. These are byproducts of the processing of crude oil that contain hydrocarbons. Through the light-end fractionation process, propane and butane are separated from the crude oil's naphtha cut (LPG). The products are commonly used in homes for heating and cooking, but LPG can also be used to generate electricity, clean and dry clothes, mow the lawn, and wash cars. Retail marketing companies that are supplied by Petrojam distribute LPG in cylinders with weights ranging from 10 to 100 pounds for domestic use.

Kerosene- In Jamaica, kerosene is primarily used for domestic and residential purposes as fuel for stoves and lamps. The light distillate category of refinery output, which also includes some diesel fuel, jet fuel, and other light fuel oils, includes kerosene. The hydroformed kerosene side stream is run down to tankage as dual-purpose kero/turbo fuel after being treated with hydrogen over a catalyst to reduce Sulphur and Nitrogen content.

Products for the Road

  • Motor Gasoline- By removing Ethane and Butane from naphtha that has been cut and split with both light and heavy virgin naphtha, the refinery creates motor gasoline. There are currently two unleaded gasoline grades available from Petrojam: regular (87R) and premium (90R). Both grades use 10% ethanol instead of methyl tertiary-butyl ether as the oxygenate/octane booster (MTBE). For use on roads, motor gasoline is primarily used to power cars and light trucks. Off-road driving, boats, recreational vehicles, and various farm and household equipment all use smaller quantities.

  • Automotive Diesel Oil (ADO)- Automotive Diesel Oil (ADO) is produced by blending a part or all of the kerosene side stream with the diesel oil side stream. Diesel fuel is used to power diesel engines in buses, trucks, automobiles, and other machinery.  It is also used in diesel generators and to fire industrial and electric utility boilers.

Industrial products

  • Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO)- The final heavy fuel oil product is made primarily from atmospheric pipestill bottoms that have been blended with heavy virgin naphtha and vacuum gas oil. Heavy fuel oil is also known as residual fuel oil. The business offers different utility-grade fuel oil grades with sulfur contents ranging from 1.8 to 3% wt. There is also the production of a different grade known as Intermediate Fuel Oil (IFO-380), which has a kinematic viscosity specification of 380 cst.

  • Asphalt- From the atmospheric pipestill bottoms, the vacuum pipestill produces two grades of penetration asphalt: 60/70 and 85/100. Asphalt is used to build roads, seal seams on roofs, and waterproof surfaces.

  • Marine Gas Oil (MGO)- A heavier grade of gas oil called marine gas oil is made right in the atmospheric pipestill tower. MGO is not refined using hydrofining. Directly from the atmospheric pipestill, it is sent to the tankage. MGO is used as fuel for bunkers (fuel for ships).

  • Jet Fuel- Airports sell jet fuel, a kerosene-based fuel produced similarly to kerosene oil but with stricter quality controls for use in jet aircraft.

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References & Sources For Where Does Jamaica Get Gas?

  1. Home (2021) Petrojam Limited. Available at: https://www.petrojam.com/ (Accessed: October 14, 2022).

Where Does Jamaica Get Gas | Written: October 14, 2022

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