Jamaica on track to becoming regional LNG Hub

Jamaica has opened its first natural gas plant and wants to position itself as a future liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub in the region.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, speaking at the launch of the LNG terminal in Montego Bay, said introduction of LNG into the country’s energy mix could be a real game changer with the potential to rapidly improve Jamaica’s economic fortunes. He said Jamaica is strategically poised to become the LNG hub of the region.

“Energy is the most successful structural adjustment endeavor that the government has ever undertaken. Our economic program, our fiscal prograe and now specifically our economic growth program, will be impacted positively as a result of these groundbreaking moves,” he said.

According to Holness, his administration has no intention of letting up on the numerous opportunities now available and plans are well advanced for construction of another facility in Old Harbor.

The production of LNG in the CARICOM region’s largest economy – Trinidad & Tobago – has been on the decline due to gas shortages. The latest available date from the country’s Ministry of Energy indicates that the twin-island republic produced 1.93 million cubic meters this year as compared to 2.24 million cubic meters in April last year – a decline of 12 percent.