Shell goes Sol in Jamaica

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Last week, the Sol Group, premiere supplier of petroleum products in the Caribbean basin, officially welcomed Sol Petroleum Jamaica Limited to its group of companies. Sol Petroleum Jamaica Limited is the newly appointed authorised macro distributor for Shell lubricants in the island.

The macro distribution contract had previously belonged to Rubis Energy Jamaica Limited.

"We commenced our operations on June 17 in Jamaica, and Sol is a group of companies born out of the Caribbean, with corporate office in Barbados. We are now in 19 territories, Jamaica being number 19. We are now just the macro distributors of Shell lubricants and that is what we are focused on now," said general manager of Sol Petroleum Jamaica Limited, Robert Jackson, Monday at a private reception for media officials at the Terra Nova Hotel, Waterloo Road.

Sol, with its regional office at Lot 5 Newport East, Kingston, will provide a full range of lubricants, including synthetic high-performance products. It will also have access to Shell's resources, with specialists in the lubricants field providing the requisite technical support services to its customers.

During the reception, Jackson hinted at intentions of pursuing other areas of the petroleum industry. When asked whether this could include supplying automotive fuel in the market as is done among some of the other Caribbean countries, marketing implementer for the company, Karoline Smith, explained that it could become a reality.

"I can't give a timeline, but what I would say to you is that we are actively pursuing this, and so, we're hoping that it is sooner rather than later. We are definitely interested and raring to go, but of course, you would have to understand the realities we face in terms of availability of locations, and so on," she said.

Advancing its name

In an attempt to advance the Sol name, Sol Petroleum Jamaica Limited will initiate several projects. These include a customer appreciation day at one of its distributors.

"We are going to engage the customers, have specials, do oil changes, educate them, and do some amount of training and some technical consultancy. One of the things we note is that the general public needs to be educated on the use of lubricants, and exactly what is best for our motor vehicles. We want to educate people and avoid mistakes," Jackson pointed out.

Sol was formed in 2005 with the acquisition of Shell's assets in the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname and Belize.