Inaugural natural gas conference offers several opportunities

The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), co-host of the country’s inaugural natural gas conference, believes the forum will present opportunities for banks, investment firms, insurers, and other financial service providers. According to the PCJ’s manager for corporate affairs and communications, Camille Taylor, participants will hear from business leaders about investment and other opportunities in the natural gas sector. “You can get first-hand information on how to bring value to your business,” she told JIS News.

In addition, she said the conference will allow participants to be a part of the discussion that contributes to the development of the policy and regulatory framework for Jamaica’s natural gas sector, and also to take advantage of networking opportunities. At the same time, Hopeton Heron, deputy director general at the OUR, also co-host of the conference, said the October 4 to 6 conference will be of interest to the transportation, legal, financial and taxation sectors, among others.

“For people in manufacturing, heavy energy users, they can learn how to boost manufacturing and production with a more efficient and affordable power supply,” he said.

The conference, themed ‘New Horizons: The Development of a Natural Gas Sector in Jamaica — Prospects and Challenges’, will be held at The Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston. Keynote speaker at the conference will be the Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley.

Other presenters are chairman of the OUR, Joseph Matalon; chairman of the PCJ, Russell Hadeed; group general manager at the PCJ, Winston Watson; CEO of New Fortress Energy Wesley Edens; and president of Sagicor Jamaica, Christopher Zacca.

Some of the topics to be covered are introduction and future direction of natural gas in the local energy mix, the perspective of primary users of natural gas for electricity generation, developing an effective regulatory framework for Jamaica’s natural gas sector, and regulations and standards for natural gas infrastructure and metering.

New opportunities for business and investment in Jamaica from natural gas, reducing Jamaica’s carbon footprint and preserving the environment, natural gas as transportation fuel, and legal and taxation considerations will also be discussed. Additionally, there will be an update on the current exploration activities being undertaken for natural gas in Jamaica. The conference will culminate with a field trip to two of Jamaica’s newest and most modern energy facilities — the Jamaica Public Service Company’s 120MW Bogue Power Station and the New Fortress Energy storage and regasification site — both of which are located in Montego Bay. (Jamaica Observer)