New Fortress Energy, the sole natural gas supplier to Jamaica, announced in July that it would buy gas on the open market after terminating a deal to buy more expensive gas contracts, but it is not clear whether it will result in cheaper light bills for local consumers.
The New York-based company, with operations mainly in Jamaica, announced that it had entered into an agreement with Centrica LNG Company Limited to terminate New Fortress’s obligation to purchase any additional LNG from Centrica for the remainder of 2020 in exchange for a payment of US$105 million. New Fortress expects to buy gas at US$2.25 to US$3.34 per million barrels (MMBtu) for the remainder of 2020. Previously, up to December 2019, it was buying from unnamed suppliers at US$8.81 per MMBtu.
Investors in NFE rewarded the company and rocketed the stock price 30 per cent higher in the week. The Financial Gleaner still awaits responses from key buyer the Jamaica Public Service Company since last Monday on whether consumers could expect savings on their light bills as they would have done with a drop in oil prices.
The Office of Utilities Regulation told the Financial Gleaner that its technical team would look at the development and make their assessments before responding to queries.
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