The Tesla Roadster electric car introduced in 2007. – FILE
It is high time the Simpson Miller administration end the pussyfooting and come clean on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. For its policy-by-dribble is both confusing and confidence-draining and risks doing grave damage to the Jamaican economy.
First, let us place things into perspective. It is our view that alongside credible fiscal policies – which, hopefully, are being sorted out in current negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – energy is the potential economic game-changer for Jamaica.
With the domestic price of electricity at upwards of US$0.41 per kilowatt-hour, Jamaican firms are difficultly placed to effectively compete with hemispheric and global manufacturers and service providers. Indeed, the higher price of energy has been a significant contributor to this country’s long period of anaemic advance in GDP.
A substantial part of our problem, of course, is that the bulk of our electricity is generated by old, inefficient power plants that burn expensive oil. Changing the fuel mix, therefore, is a critical component towards reducing the cost of domestic energy.
Settled on natural gas
For more than a decade, Jamaican administrations have deliberated on the issue and appeared, in the end, to settle on natural gas as the fuel of choice.
It is largely against this backdrop that the former Jamaica Labour Party administration, after a badly compromised initial tender process that it was forced to overturn, called for new bids for an LNG storage and regasification facility to begin to give effect to the fuel-conversion programme. Months ago, it was announced that Samsung was the preferred bidder for that facility.
Previously, the Jamaica Public Service Company, an electricity generator and monopoly distributor of power, won the bid to establish a natural gas-burning, 480-megawatt power plant. The expectation was that with natural gas and enhanced efficiency, this facility would drive down the cost of power by a third – not sufficient, but a start.
This newspaper has always felt, and argued, that coal, and other fuels, ought to be part of the energy mix. Our primary concern is for the delivery of the cheapest power to afford the economy a fighting chance at competitiveness. At the same time, we want to be assured of a predictability of supply, starting with the fuel.
Project could be sidelined
Unfortunately, the Government‘s poor communications strategy is injecting grave uncertainty and potential partisan rancour into the discourse.
Dr Carlton Davis, the highly respected public servant who heads the Government’s energy task force, had hinted that the LNG project could be sidelined if the Samsung bid did not meet specific price points for the delivery of electricity. It has for weeks been leaking out that those price points, whatever they were, have not been met and that LNG might be abandoned.
What, precisely, this means remains unclear. We would, for instance, wish to be told frankly whether Jamaica can find no supplier of LNG – the price of which has risen on the back of demand in Asia despite the collapse of the price of natural gas in North America – at a cost that makes sense. Or whether it is other elements of the pricing of the project that don’t compute, and which party they relate to. Or, perhaps there is another approach to the project, including a mix with other fuels.
Uncertainty, ultimately, breeds apathy.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
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Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
A comprehensive operations audit of Jamaica’s state-owned oil refinery has questioned the legality and financial oversight of several mega contracts totalling hundreds of millions of US dollars per annum that are being entered into by Petrojam officials.
This is among a number of concerns contained in a “strictly confidential” report prepared by Centennial Group, a consulting firm from Washington, DC, which conducted a special operations audit of Petrojam Limited at the request of Finance Minister Audley Shaw.
The inspection was spawned by a massive $7.3 billion loss incurred by the company in the 2009 financial year.
The consultants, who stated that Petrojam could have substantially reduced its losses during a particular four-month period when the refinery was operating at high negative margins by increasing its reliance on imports to meet local demand, determined that several critical issues in the petroleum sector were too murky for comfort.
“High-value contracts for purchase of crude oil and petroleum products amounting to hundreds of millions of US dollars annually are being negotiated by a few Petrojam officials without any external oversight. Delegation of such responsibility needs to be established more carefully with proper oversight for better transparency,” the consultants said.
No authority to sign
The report also stated: “The legality of some contracts seems questionable with the system of delegation of financial authority being not clear. Amendments and/or renewals of some very high-value contracts have been done by some officers who may not have the required financial authority to sign these contracts.”
The consultants recommended that “a competent and authorised team of strong negotiators with skills in the oil trade with GOJ representation in the team should carry out these negotiations”.
“This will get the best possible terms for the country and would ensure adequate transparency in the deals. Further, in cases where petroleum products are imported without competitive bidding, as in the case of imports from Petrotrin, increased oversight is necessary by the Ministry of Energy and Mining, PCJ and Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA),” the report stated.
Commenting on the report, Winston Watson, general manager of Petrojam Limited, insisted that no unauthorised personnel signed a contract on behalf of the company. “I haven’t seen any document to substantiate that,” he told The Sunday Gleaner. In an earlier response issued by Petrojam on Friday, the company said it had an internal governance policy that was detailed in its chart of accounts with signing authority and delegation clearly identified.
“This chart of account has been approved by the board of directors and is strictly adhered to. At no point in the audit did the Centennial team request documentation on proof of signing authority; nor is Petrojam aware of any particular contract, the legality of which could be in any doubt by virtue of its signatory,” the Petrojam statement said.
The consultants also pointed out that the freight rates for product imports were unusually negotiated based on Petrojam’s own assessment. “This lacks transparency and evaluation of freight rates should be based on international benchmark rates published by Worlds Scale and AFRA ,” the consultants stated. AFRA, the average freight rate assessment, is one of the methods used to determine crude-oil freight rates.
In addition to those issues, the consultants highlighted that the demurrage – the charge for detention in port of a vessel by the ship owner beyond the time allowed or agreed upon – paid by Petrojam for vessels bringing in petroleum products appears to be excessive, running into millions of US dollars.
“Although Petrojam’s explana-tion is that high demurrage is the result of the limited capacity of the terminal, the dock occupancy was only 78 per cent in 2006, 83 per cent in 2008 and 80 per cent in 2009 up to July. In this context, it is worth mentioning that in some countries there have been many instances of collusion of port personnel with vessel owners for collecting extra demurrage,” the report stated.
Important issue
To further clean up the abysmal state of affairs in the country’s petroleum sector, Petrojam can no longer appear to be operating as a law unto itself, Centennial Group, the US-based audit consultants, has warned the Government.
“One important issue for the Government to resolve is that currently Petrojam is functioning virtually without effective oversight by either PCJ or the Ministry of Energy and Mining.
“There is need to develop this capacity with competent personnel who have knowledge of the petroleum sector. The Government also has to develop a satisfactory regulatory framework for the sector. At present, Petrojam serves as a quasi-regulator,” the consultants stated.
The consultants recommended that Petrojam, a joint-venture company with 49 per cent shares held by a foreign company – Petro Caribe S.A., an affiliate of
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter A comprehensive operations audit of Jamaica’s state-owned oil refinery has questioned the legality and financial oversight of several mega contracts totalling hundreds of millions of US dollars per annum that are being entered into by Petrojam officials. This is among a number of concerns contained in a “strictly confidential” report prepared by Centennial Group, a consulting firm from Washington, DC, which conducted a special operations audit of Petrojam Limited at the request of Finance Minister Audley Shaw. The inspection was spawned by a massive $7.3 billion loss incurred by the company in the 2009 financial year. The consultants, who stated that Petrojam could have substantially reduced its losses during a particular four-month period when the refinery was operating at high negative margins by increasing its reliance on imports to meet local demand, determined that several critical issues in the petroleum sector were too murky for comfort. “High-value contracts for purchase of crude oil and petroleum products amounting to hundreds of millions of US dollars annually are being negotiated by a few Petrojam officials without any external oversight. Delegation of such responsibility needs to be established more carefully with proper oversight for better transparency,” the consultants said. No authority to sign The report also stated: “The legality of some contracts seems questionable with the system of delegation of financial authority being not clear. Amendments and/or renewals of some very high-value contracts have been done by some officers who may not have the required financial authority to sign these contracts.” The consultants recommended that “a competent and authorised team of strong negotiators with skills in the oil trade with GOJ representation in the team should carry out these negotiations”. “This will get the best possible terms for the country and would ensure adequate transparency in the deals. Further, in cases where petroleum products are imported without competitive bidding, as in the case of imports from Petrotrin, increased oversight is necessary by the Ministry of Energy and Mining, PCJ and Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA),” the report stated. Commenting on the report, Winston Watson, general manager of Petrojam Limited, insisted that no unauthorised personnel signed a contract on behalf of the company. “I haven’t seen any document to substantiate that,” he told The Sunday Gleaner. In an earlier response issued by Petrojam on Friday, the company said it had an internal governance policy that was detailed in its chart of accounts with signing authority and delegation clearly identified. “This chart of account has been approved by the board of directors and is strictly adhered to. At no point in the audit did the Centennial team request documentation on proof of signing authority; nor is Petrojam aware of any particular contract, the legality of which could be in any doubt by virtue of its signatory,” the Petrojam statement said. The consultants also pointed out that the freight rates for product imports were unusually negotiated based on Petrojam’s own assessment. “This lacks transparency and evaluation of freight rates should be based on international benchmark rates published by Worlds Scale and AFRA ,” the consultants stated. AFRA, the average freight rate assessment, is one of the methods used to determine crude-oil freight rates. In addition to those issues, the consultants highlighted that the demurrage – the charge for detention in port of a vessel by the ship owner beyond the time allowed or agreed upon – paid by Petrojam for vessels bringing in petroleum products appears to be excessive, running into millions of US dollars. “Although Petrojam’s explana-tion is that high demurrage is the result of the limited capacity of the terminal, the dock occupancy was only 78 per cent in 2006, 83 per cent in 2008 and 80 per cent in 2009 up to July. In this context, it is worth mentioning that in some countries there have been many instances of collusion of port personnel with vessel owners for collecting extra demurrage,” the report stated. Important issue To further clean up the abysmal state of affairs in the country’s petroleum sector, Petrojam can no longer appear to be operating as a law unto itself, Centennial Group, the US-based audit consultants, has warned the Government. “One important issue for the Government to resolve is that currently Petrojam is functioning virtually without effective oversight by either PCJ or the Ministry of Energy and Mining. “There is need to develop this capacity with competent personnel who have knowledge of the petroleum sector. The Government also has to develop a satisfactory regulatory framework for the sector. At present, Petrojam serves as a quasi-regulator,” the consultants stated. The consultants recommended that Petrojam, a joint-venture company with 49 per cent shares held by a foreign company – Petro Caribe S.A., an affiliate of
Oil declined to a two-week low as Saudi Arabia was said to be taking action to lower prices and increasing concern that an economic slowdown will curb demand. Oil fell for a second day as a Persian Gulf official said Saudi Arabia is pumping about 10 million barrels a day and will produce more if customers demand it. Prices tumbled 2.4 percent yesterday, at one point dropping 3 dollars in less than a minute on a surge in volume. At the end of today the price was down 1 dollar 33 cents or 1.4 percent, to 95 dollars 29 cents a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since August 30. The two-day decline was 3.7 percent. Prices are down 3.6 percent this year. Read More: Oil declined to a two-week low as Saudi Arabia was said to be taking action to lower prices and increasing concern that an economic slowdown will curb demand. Oil fell for a second day as a Persian Gulf official said Saudi Arabia is pumping about 10 million barrels a day and will produce more if customers demand it. Prices tumbled 2.4 percent yesterday, at one point dropping 3 dollars in less than a minute on a surge in volume. At the end of today the price was down 1 dollar 33 cents or 1.4 percent, to 95 dollars 29 cents a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since August 30. The two-day decline was 3.7 percent. Prices are down 3.6 percent this year. Read More: (AP) -The price of oil crept up closer to US$97 a barrel today on expectations that the European Central Bank will soon announce new measures to fight the continent’s debt crisis. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for October delivery was up 47 cents to US$96.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose US$1.85 to finish at US$96.47 Friday. There was no closing price Monday because of a public holiday in the US. In London, Brent crude was up $1.72 at $116.29 on the ICE Futures exchange. The ECB’s governing council is meeting Thursday and ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to reveal a new bond-buying programme aimed at easing borrowing cost for countries like Spain and Italy. The ECB’s awaited announcement “is likely to prompt speculative financial investors to jump on the bandwagon and drive the (oil) price further upward,” said analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “The development of prices and the commitment displayed by investors are at odds with the fundamental data, which continue to suggest an oversupply,” analysts at Commerzbank said. If the central banks fail to live up to expectations, oil prices are likely to drop sharply, they added. Speculation about the ECB’s stimulus measures has helped support the euro against the dollar. After dropping to near two-year lows near US$1.20 at the end of July, the euro has pushed back to near US$1.26. That pushes up oil prices, which is traded in dollars and becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies when the dollar drops. Oil analyst Stephen Schork said in a report that oil prices could see “increased volatility this week” due to the loss of a trading day Monday because of a holiday in the US. The release Friday of US nonfarm payrolls for August, a closely watched gauge of employment in the world’s No 1 economy, also could impact prices, Schork said. He attributed recent swings in the oil price to the conflicting influences of a lower dollar and refinery disruptions in the US Gulf Coast that resulted from Hurricane Isaac. While a substantial amount of oil and gas production remains offline, production is coming back as expected. No major damage to oil platforms or refineries has been reported. In other Nymex energy futures trading, heating oil rose 2.53 cents to US$3.2055 a gallon and wholesale gasoline was up 2.31 cents at US$2.9959 a gallon. Natural gas fell 2.8 cents to US$2.771 per 1,000 cubic feet Read more: The state-owned oil refinery Petrojam is to provide full disclosure on its pricing mechanism in the wake of BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) It was National Hero Norman Washington Manley who said that the mission of his generation was to achieve political independence. He further said that the mission of the next generation would be to achieve economic independence. But economic independence is clearly a harder task to achieve than political independence. And a main ingredient in the achievement of economic independence is in having independence in electricity. In the days before the world oil crisis which began in December 1973, independence in electricity was not an issue as oil was cheap. But since that time there has been talk of having alternative sources of energy because of increasingly higher prices. The oil-producing countries then played their underselling game and Jamaica dropped its plans of creating alternative energy because of temporarily cheaper oil prices that sky-rocketed to very higher prices once the alternative energy plans were dropped. In the 1990s the government of the day decided that our light and power company, the Jamaica Public Service, would be best divested to private people. Government could not manage JPS in such a way that there were not constant power cuts caused by breakdowns of the generators. But private owners are only interested in profit, which is one reason for higher prices. Another reason is the rising prices caused by the US Gulf War. From the 1990s the JPS has been using a certain amount of windmill energy. Then came 9/11 in 2001. The United States of America needed alternative sources of energy to fight their war in the Middle East as the oil available was not enough. In any case, the available oil was being used by both sides of the war to fuel war planes and whatever else. As a result of all this, oil supplies dwindled and as a consequence oil prices went up. This has brought to the fore once again the argument for greater use of alternative energy, and more important its actual implementation to some extent. It is true that we may be stuck with JPS for many more years as suggested by the headline of Mark Wignall’s column on August 16. But it does appear that despite all the obstacles listed in Wignall’s column, independence in electricity is slowly but surely coming. Already it is being done by using solar, windmill or a combination of both without going through the red tape, trauma and rigmarole and whatever other delays of attempting to share the grid with JPS. Indeed, solar panels on roofs of houses are becoming very common. Is it the JPS that has gone into solar energy with the street lights on the Highway leading into Portmore, St Catherine, or is it the foreign contractors? Incidentally, JPS also has some hydro-electric power plants and has always had them. My interest in solar, hydro and windmill is partly out of concern for our political and economic independence and partly subjective. I am an asthmatic and am affected by the smoke from oil generators and also from coal energy – which is being marketed as safe for health due to improved technology, but I am not convinced. I am not really in favour of any source of energy that requires burning for its effectiveness. And I am aware that in Jamaica, just about everyone has a relative who is asthmatic if they do not themselves suffer from the condition. In other words, “is nuff a wi”. That aside, both coal and Liquid Natural Gas would be imported, if we went that route. So imported cheap coal as well as cheap LNG would lead to a similar dependence on outside supplies leading to the spending of precious foreign exchange. I believe that coal and LNG are now cheap because the owners of such commodities are attracting buyers. But both might become expensive if we are put in a position where we cannot do without it because we have nothing else. Indeed, I believe that it is the age-old game of undersell, put the competitor out of business and then jack up the price afterwards. But to politicians, cheaper electricity translates into more votes at election time. Energy minister Phillip Paulwell promotes cheaper energy, even if it is more hazardous and even if it encourages dependency. But has anyone in the People’s National Party guessed that by the time election comes around the cheap coal and cheap LNG may skyrocket to the point where the voters swing away from the PNP? Or is there a plan by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to call a snap election the minute the electricity prices fall? Our aim should be to avoid any form of energy that increases dependency and detrimental to health. We should instead be looking towards complete independence in electricity, even if the capital outlay in its initial years is costly, especially with regard to solar energy. And with all the hurdles listed by Mark Wignall, the quicker we move on this the better. To our credit, we have started already. ekrubm765@yahoo.com Read more: