Sol is the premier supplier of petroleum products to the Caribbean Basin. The company provides energy solutions to individuals, families, businesses and government organizations across the Caribbean.
Sol, the largest independent petroleum marketing company in the Caribbean Basin is one of the Caribbean’s best business success stories. While Sol and its iconic blue and orange logo may be considered new to Jamaica, its role in the Jamaica energy landscape is very significant.
Sol was founded thirteen years ago by Caribbean entrepreneur Sir Kyffin Simpson. The company started operations in 2005 when it purchased the Caribbean assets of Shell,
a multinational oil and gas company. Following Sol’s initial purchase of Shell’s assets in the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname, and Belize, Sol has expanded to twenty-three Caribbean territories.
This expansion included the conversion of some of Shell’s service stations to Sol service stations, as well as the purchase of the Caribbean operations of ESSO in 2014. As a result, Sol operates three separate retail brands (Sol, Shell and ESSO) across the region.
Thanks to its rigorous expansion philosophy, the Sol Group now manages a portfolio of 480 service stations, 14 aviation facilities, 24 marinas and 32 import terminals. This covers retail fuels, lubricants, LPG, convenience retailing, aviation, marine, mining, trucking and fleet operations.
Sol solidified its footprint here in Jamaica in June 2013, when the company became the macro distributor for Shell lubricants. As a result of this move, Sol Petroleum Jamaica provides local consumers and partners with a world-class portfolio of Shell lubricants that meet and exceed the highest standards in the global industry. Subsequently, Sol partnered with Petrotec to provide bunkering services in the Kingston harbour.
Bunkering & other opportunities
Jamaica has a central location which gives us a significant competitive advantage. We also have a natural harbour, which is considered to be the seventh largest harbour in the world. This works well for Jamaica as we are ideally positioned as a regional trans-shipment hub to take advantage of opportunities in terms of travel, trade and doing businesses. An example of this is the approximately three thousand vessels, primarily cargo that we welcome every year. This facilitates extensive trade and creates value for the entire economy, it will also create business opportunities for the fuels, lubricants and other segments.
Sol Jamaica has positioned itself strategically to facilitate these opportunities by serving our clients optimally and building customer relationships. This will help us to attract more business and augment our position as a major player in this sector.
Awards
Sol Petroleum Jamaica has amassed a total of nine awards in its five years of operation, which have been awarded by our corporate offices and includes Corporate Social Responsibility, Sales & Marketing performance, Sales Executive of the Year.
Committed to Health, Safety and Environment
General Manager, Robert Jackson shared that Sol has a vested interest in health, safety and the environment. Across the organization, Sol is committed to preserving the energy and vibrancy of life in the Caribbean. That’s why across all levels of the organization, a range of policies has been implemented and procedures designed to protect the health & safety of Sol employees, as well as the communities and territories in which it operates.
For Sol Petroleum Jamaica, rigorously collecting safety data is a vital part of doing business. “We take it very seriously,” said Mr. Jackson.
“We take record of our activities, and any incident has to be reported and addressed immediately. We have our group policy, which provides an outline of all the facets of operational safety; this is displayed in our offices and distributed to all employees. We have management systems in place to track our activities. Most importantly, we have annual audits on which we are graded.”
Sol Petroleum Jamaica also provides Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) standards support to customers, which includes inspecting their sites and advising on safe storage/handling. The company also offers support to contractors, who are provided with orientation and training. “We make every effort to pass on our safety culture to our stakeholders and partners,” said Mr. Jackson
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environmental protection is a pillar of Sol Petroleum’s social investment initiatives. “We continue to play our part in the conservation of the environment and marine life,” said Mr. Jackson. “We’ve got many programmes that are aimed at protecting reefs and other important maritime resources in the Caribbean.” As a part of its environmental initiative, Sol proudly contributes to the Nature Foundation, a Marine Conservation initiative in St Maarten, the Turtle Conservation Society in Guyana, the Used Oil Recovery Project in Belize and the Reforestation Project in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Each year Sol is also heavily involved in several sponsorship activities and events across the region. These range from small educational projects in local communities to regional community initiatives with major sporting associations.