Cuba's oil, a local issue in Florida

The Florida KeysReporter newspaper reports that Repsol will wait until hurricane seasonends and then start drilling, probably in December.

Meantime, an editorialin Investors Business Daily supports Cuba’s oil drilling in the Gulf, but makesthe loopy observation that Cuba’s economic zone extends “virtually to KeyWest.” Actually, Cuba’s waters beginhalfway between Key West and the Cuban coast. The drilling site is 16 miles from the Cuban shore, 28 miles from U.S.waters, and 80 miles from the Florida Keys. The well will be in 1800 meters of water.

The U.S.-Cuba maritime border isdescribed in detail in this StateDepartment document (pdf) and there’s a map on the last page.

The NewYork Times and GlobalPost covered the visit to Havana of former EPA chief William Reilly, whotalked with Cuban officials about emergency preparedness.