Petrojam, a 36,000 barrels-a-day hydro-skimming refinery, is the foundation of the national energy mix, providing energy security as well as foreign exchange savings for Jamaica. However, the refinery currently faces a number of challenges with its present configuration, which must be addressed if it is to continue playing its pivotal role in the long term. These challenges include:

• The push for lower sulphur petroleum fuels (gasoline and diesel oil) in order to protect the environment and to be more compatible with new vehicle engine types;
• A shift to diesel powered engines due to their higher efficiency and more acceptable environmental impact;
• The planned introduction of new fuel types such as LNG or coal;
• The planned phasing out of MTBE in gasoline.

The refinery currently operates at 69% of its crude unit capacity producing 25 kbbls/day of a potential capacity of 36 kbbls/day.
The challenges facing the refinery can only be addressed by upgrading with the inclusion of some type of bottoms upgrading facility.

In August 2005, both PDVSA and PCJ/Petrojam agreed on the scope of the new facilities to be constructed during the first phase of the upgrading. During subsequent months tenders were solicited for a suitable firm to carry out a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) Study for the facilities. A contract was signed in March 2006 with SNC Lavalin, a Canadian engineering firm, to carry our FEED Study on the proposed new facilities.