PCJ reports another oil seep
Published:Wednesday | September 4, 2019 | 12:27 AM
Jamaica is reporting another oil seep find, but experts say commercial finds still remain a dream for now, subject to confirmation by drilling.
Tests carried out by two separate independent laboratories recently confirmed that an oil seep identified in 2018 in St Mary by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica holds small traces of oil. That confirmation takes the number of oil seeps to five: two seeps offshore and three onshore.
The latest seep offers no commercial prospects but the PCJ said the discovery strengthens the emerging data, which shows that Jamaica has a working petroleum system that generates and expels hydrocarbons to the surface.
The most promising offshore seep relates to explorations by Tullow Oil Plc, but it requires drilling, which can cost upwards of US$20 million. Earlier this year, Tullow finished its 3D survey with promising results, and will consider drilling in 2020.
Richardson cautioned that while the prospects appear hopeful that other Central American countries found similar prospects, drilling came up empty.
PCJ said that the country’s most well-known gas seep, the Windsor Gas seep, has been gently bubbling since the 1900s. The PCJ, in partnership with CGG GeoConsulting, found two live oil seeps onshore in 2016. The first offshore live oil seep was found in 2017 by Tullow Oil.
The current seep was detected onshore with the assistance of an unnamed citizen who contacted the PCJ to investigate an “oily substance” found on her farm.
Preliminary geochemical analysis undertaken by the PCJ confirmed that the newest seep originates from a source rock from the Jurassic geological period, which was approximately 160 million years ago, making it older than any rocks found on or offshore Jamaica to date.