There has been a lot of publicity about the possibility that Cuba could discover high-quality oil in its Gulf waters north of Havana and Pinar del Rio provinces. But as a Reuters report [link expired; see it in comments section] confirms, it’s a long-term proposition. Vietnam acquired rights to explore in three offshore blocks but gives no indication when exploration might begin. An Indian company might drill late next year, and Spain’s Repsol, which drilled and found good oil but not in sufficient quantities to exploit, might return to drilling next year too.
The real story in Cuban energy production continues to be onshore drilling on the north coast east of Havana, where partnerships with foreign investors have yielded some new oil discoveries, enhanced recovery in existing wells, and Cuba’s first natural gas production.
The link appears broken, but here is some news perhaps to the contrary.
ReplyDeleteCanada's Sherritt International Corp. said Wednesday it plans to invest $1.25 billion in Cuba over the next two years, bolstering its position in the island's oil, natural gas, electricity and nickel and cobalt mining sectors.
"Cuba is one of our favorite places to work" said Sherrit President.
....
Lage said Cuba plans to erect 39 oil exploration wells this year, 26 of which will include investment from foreign firms.
Thanks for pointing out the broken link. Story here:
ReplyDeleteVietnam joins oil search in Cuba
HAVANA
03-Jun-07
VIETNAM'S state oil and gas group became on Friday the sixth oil company to sign risk contracts to explore Cuba's promising Gulf of Mexico waters.
Petrovietnam signed contracts for blocks 31, 42 and 43 in the deep waters of Cuba's economic exclusion zone where non-commercial quantities of light oil have been discovered.
The prospecting, drilling and production contracts were signed with Cuban state oil company Cupet during a visit to Havana by Vietnam's Communist Party leader, Nong Duc Manh.
Petrovietnam also signed a risk contract for onshore blocks 16, 17 and 18, a Cuban government statement said.
The overseas arm of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) signed up two blocks in September and is conducting seismic work.
Its representative in Havana, RS Pandey, said a first well could be sunk in late 2008 or early 2009.
ONGC is already a partner with Spain's Repsol-YPF and Norway's Norsk Hydro in six blocks in an area where Repsol in 2004 found good-quality oil, but not enough to develop commercially.
The consortium is expected to drill again next year.
Malaysia's state-run Petronas and Canada's Sherritt International also have risk contracts in Cuba's 112,000-square-km offshore zone in Gulf water opened to foreign exploration in 1999 in 59 blocks.
Reuters