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Jamaican-owned West Indies Petroleum Limited has signed an agreement worth US$22.5 million Jamaica Broilers in a move that is designed help the company take advantage of the recent expansion of the Panama Canal.

The deal will see West Indies Petroleum, which was formed in 2012 as a special purpose vehicle to meet the demand for marine refueling in the region, acquire Jamaica Broilers' 120-million-gallon ethanol plant and 25-million-gallon fuel storage facility in Port Esquivel.

Jamaica Broilers Group is to sell its subsidiary JB Terminal Limited at Port Esquivel (formerly JB Ethanol Ltd) and its shares in ERI Services Ltd (St Lucia) for cash of US$4 million (J$505 million) and assumed liabilities of US$18.5 million (J$2.4 billion) due to Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd. ERI Services Ltd is the holding company for JB Ethanol, now JB Terminal (Port Esquivel) Ltd.

West Indies Petroleum director Charles Chambers [pictured] said the deal signed was positive news for the company. "This acquisition immediately gives us the opportunity to provide fuel to the likes of Carnival, and Norwegian and Royal Caribbean that do not take fuel today as well as to support huge shipping companies which have made Jamaica their hub," Chambers commented.

"It's a massive move for West Indies Petroleum, a small Jamaican company owned by five Jamaicans. We employ almost entirely Jamaican people. We support Jamaica. Our vision is to make this Jamaican company grow beyond Jamaica into an international company," he added.

Commenting on the issue of storage, Chambers remarked: "The issue is that as there has never been fuel available in Jamaica for the bunkering business - that vessels don't actually come here, so we have a vision that through the acquisition of storage, that we will be able to work out the logistics to make fuel available to these vessels and make Jamaica a fuel desination."

Jamaican Energy Minister, Dr. Andrew Wheatley, commented that the deal signed between West Indies Petroleum Company and Jamaica Broilers supports the government's investment and job creation push.

West Indies Petroleum began operations in 2013 as a supplier of intermediate fuel oil (IFO) and marine gas oil (MGO) to ships. The company carries out deliveries in Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Esquivel and Port Rhoades.