Caribbean Seen as Ideal Market for New Fuel

THE Caribbean Sea, like many other archipelagic regions, is seen as an ideal market for marine compressed natural gas (CNG), according to Raymond Wright, head of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ)

Colombia and Trinidad&Tobago, in particular, are "very interested" in CNG exports, says Wright.

He points out that Colombian gas could be exported to Panama, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Aruba and Curacao while Trinidadian exports could target Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia and Dominica.

Operator Pacific Rubiales has previously said its La Creciente gas field in north-west Colombia's Lower Magdalena Valley basin could supply the CNG.

Barging or shipping CNG in the Caribbean will lower end users' energy costs, which are some of the highest in the world, with Wright stressing that these small load sizes are practical for many of the archipelago's islands.

For the Caribbean, a CNG export plant with loading facilities - including compressors, pipelines and buoys - has been priced at ?$35 million to $50 million, with four vessels costing up to $240 million.

The number of vessels required for a certain transport distance depends upon the loading rate, voyage distance and time required for a vessel to make the complete cycle of loading, transporting, unloading and returning.

Wright says funding assistance could come from a multi-lateral organisation such as the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.