Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz, says the country’s fuel arrangements are not in jeopardy, despite the instability in Eastern Europe.

He gave the assurance while providing an update on energy security and oil prices during Thursday’s (March 3) meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives.

“I want to categorically state to the people of Jamaica that we have storage capacity both in Jamaica and outside of Jamaica, which is more than adequate for the island,” Vaz told members.

“We are well secure in terms of our fuel arrangements,” he added, noting that the country has three to four weeks’ reserve supply of finished product and six weeks of crude.

“This situation is being actively monitored and our supply chain is not in jeopardy,” he stressed.

Vaz said the island Jamaica currently sources both crude oil and finished product from Colombia, Equador, Brazil and Barbados.

“In the case of Barbados, we do about 60,000 barrels every two months. All of these are based on fixed contracts, some yearly and some shorter,” he noted.

Vaz told the House that funds are available to make the necessary purchases.

“What we… cannot predict, obviously, are prices, but based on the contracts that we have, supply is there and based on funds available to purchase… we do have that as a country. There is no need to panic as it relates to our supply and we will be [monitoring] the prices as things and time unfold,” he said.

His comments were coming a day before oil jumped about four per cent this morning (March 4) in a volatile session as fears that Western sanctions would disrupt Russian exports outweighed hopes for more Iranian supply if Washington reaches a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Crude prices rallied after Russian troops seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. A blaze in a training building was extinguished and officials said the facility was now safe.

Brent futures rose US$4.11, or 3.7 per cent, to US$114.57 a barrel by 11:29 am EST (1629 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US$4.34, or 4.0 per cent, to US$112.01.

Brent was on track for its highest close since June 2014 and WTI for its highest close since May 2011. During the week, Brent rose to its highest intraday since May 2012 and WTI its highest since September 2008.

Crude prices are set to post their strongest weekly gains since the middle of 2020, with the US benchmark up more than 22 per cent and Brent 16 per cent.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means that fears over supply will remain front and centre,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM, though he added that there is “a new sense of urgency” to revive the Iranian nuclear deal.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are close to reaching an agreement, the chief British envoy said on Friday as she and her French and German colleagues flew home to brief ministers.

“Iran claims they will be able to ramp up production quickly, but the potential disruptions of Russian supplies is too big of a shock for energy markets,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

JAMAICANS URGED TO PRACTISE ENERGY CONSERVATION

In his comments on Thursday, Vaz said the fact that there may be some dislocation in relation to supply from Russia was an opportunity for others to ramp up to be able to meet that shortfall.

He however urged Jamaicans to practise energy conservation.

“We have always talked about conservation, but we really have not practised it, and maybe this unfortunate situation is really a wake-up call for each and every one of us to take that responsibility into our own hands to be able to conserve and use less fuel,” he said.