The government is still uncertain when the expansion of the Petrojam refinery in Kingston will start.

The political and economic crisis in Venezuela has delayed the plans to upgrade the refinery.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the disclosure on Thursday.

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Prime Minister Holness was speaking at his second quarterly press briefing yesterday.

Jamaica and Venezuela reached an agreement for the expansion of the refinery in February.

The deal was signed by Energy Minister, Dr. Andrew Wheatley and his Venezuelan counterpart Nelson Martinez in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

The agreement, which has been ten years in the making, will increase the capacity of the refinery to 55,000 barrels of petrol per day.

It’s expected that the deal will allow Jamaica to satisfy domestic demand and have additional supplies for export to other Caribbean nations.

The upgrade is expected to cost USD$850-million.

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