Jamaica’s sole oil refinery suffered an unexpected shutdown of its gasolene production unit in April, racking up an estimated US$3.6 million (J$550 million) in production losses over 23 days and triggering an emergency procurement contract to restore operations.

“Losses from the inability to produce gasolene are estimated conservatively to be US$156,000 per day of downtime,” Petrojam said in a contract award notice seen by the Financial Gleaner. “As such, it is urgent that the repair activities are completed as soon as possible to minimise this loss.”

The reformer catalyst — a critical component of Petrojam’s gasolene production system that converts crude oil into sellable fuel — became fully deactivated on April 3, according to the contract document. Facing the sudden loss of gasolene output, Petrojam activated emergency procurement procedures and invited three service providers — Array Industrial, TechCorr USA Management LLC, and GAR Engineering Company Limited — to submit bids for the repair works.