Cuban Oil Project Fuels US Anxieties

BBC News - Cuban oil project fuels US anxieties

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214 Share 15 November 2011 Last updated at 13:20 Top Stories Public sector strike Cuban oil project fuels US anxieties takes effect By Michael Voss BBC News, Havana UK diplomats pulled out of Iran Ivory Coast ex-head taken to ICC Pay and jobs pain as growth slows A massive $750m (£473m) Chinese- built oil rig, the Scarabeo 9, is due to Debt crisis in 'critical period' NEW arrive in Cuba before the end of the year, to begin drilling a series of exploratory wells. Features & Analysis Sirius business A whole range of international oil companies The dogs that patrol Greenland's from Spain, Norway, Russia, India, Vietnam, icy riches Malaysia, Canada, Angola, Venezuela, and China - but not the US - are lining up to hire the Coding quiz rig and search for what are believed to be Cuba hopes the Scarabeo 9 rig will help to expand its oil industry 7 questions on computer substantial oil deposits. programming

"We will drill several wells next year and I'm sure we will have Related Stories Shame game discoveries. It is not a matter of if we have oil, it is a matter of when we Will Steve McQueen film on sex are going to start producing," Rafael Tenreiro, head of exploration for the Where has the Gulf addiction benefit from adult Cuban state-owned oil company Cupet, confidently predicts. oil spill gone? rating?

The Spanish company Repsol will be the first to drill, with an exploratory Shell boss on Staying alive safety changes well in extremely deep water just 50 miles (80km) off the coast of Florida. How South Africa has turned the made tide in the fight against Aids Be prepared Russia to drill for oil off Cuba It has sent alarm bells ringing in the United States because if there were an accident, the ocean currents would push any oil spill onto Florida's Most Popular beaches and the Everglades. Shared

Yet under the US trade embargo, neither American firms nor the Coast Iran protesters storm UK embassy Guard could come to Cuba's assistance or provide much needed equipment such as booms, pumps, skimmers and oil dispersant systems. Norway killer is declared insane The Cubans would need to turn to the Norwegians, British or Brazilians for help. Racist tram rant suspect charged

"In the event of a disaster we are talking a response time in terms of US airline AA shares plunge 85% equipment of four to six weeks as opposed to 36 or 48 hours. This is a serious impediment," warned Lee Hunt, president of the Texas-based Wi-fi laptops 'may damage sperm' International Association of Drilling Contractors.

Mr Hunt was part of a team of oil industry and environmental experts who Read were given permission by the Obama administration to visit Cuba to discuss safety issues with the authorities in Havana. Lottery 'winners' deny fourth man

Leading the group was William Reilly, a former head of the US Up to two million set to strike Environmental Protection Agency and co-author of the government report into last year's BP oil disaster. Live and latest: National strike

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15737573[30/11/2011 09:39:05] BBC News - Cuban oil project fuels US anxieties

He was impressed with Cuba's awareness of the risks and knowledge of 7 questions on computer programmes the latest international safety measures.

The explosion and blow-out aboard BP's Deepwater Horizon rig off the Will Shame change movie rating game? coast of Louisiana killed 11 people and spilled 5m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was one of the worst environmental disasters ever to hit Debt crisis in 'critical period' the Gulf Coast. The decaying Cuban regime is Woman hurt as 'tornado' hits town It took 85 days to cap the well head, which was 5,500 feet beneath the desperately surface. The Scarabeo 9 will be drilling in even deeper water. reaching out for Ramsden's first branch to close an economic After his talks with Cuban officials, William Reilly said he found them lifeline” UK diplomats 'pull out of' Iran serious about safety and aware of international best practice but lacking Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in experience. Anti-Castro US Strikes: How will I be affected? He wants to see the US co-operate with Cuba on safety issues and ease Congresswoman the embargo to allow US companies to assist in case of an emergency. Video/Audio

"It is profoundly in the interests of the United States to prepare the Reports and analysis on UK strikes Cubans as best we can to ensure that we are protected in the case of a spill. We need to make it 'Key West safe'." BBC News Channel

But Florida's powerful Cuban-American lobby has other ideas and with the 2012 presidential election looming, Barack Obama is in a difficult Gangway collapses on HMS Belfast position. Heavy fines for Iran's reckless Oil windfall? drivers

The anti-Castro groups want the administration to take action to halt the Iconic Harry Ramsden's branch to drilling altogether and not just for safety reasons. close

A major oil find would make this communist-run Caribbean island Britons warned: Keep low profile in financially independent for the first time since the revolution in 1959. Iran

For more than half a century Cuba has been dependent on the largesse Nato outpost attacked by insurgents of its ideological allies. First it was subsidised by the Soviet Union, then more recently Venezuela and, to a lesser extent, China. Saudi drivers pimp their rides Cuba has long produced some oil from a series of small onshore and coastal deposits. Coastguards pick up car in sea

Tourists going from Havana to the beach resort UK's 'biggest' public sector strike of Varadero drive past several kilometres of begins nodding donkeys and the occasional Chinese or Canadian drilling rig.

Cuba currently produces about 53,000 barrels of oil a day but still needs to import about 100,000 barrels, mainly from Venezuela.

Its deep territorial waters, though, lie on the same geological strata as oil rich Mexico and Cuba already has a small domestic oil industry the US Gulf.

Estimates on just how much offshore oil Cuba is sitting on vary. A US Geological Survey estimate suggests 4.6bn barrels, the Cubans say 20bn.

Even the most conservative estimate would make Cuba a net oil exporter. A large find would provide untold riches.

It is one of the US-based anti-Castro lobby's worst nightmares.

"The decaying Cuban regime is desperately reaching out for an economic lifeline, and it appears to have found a willing partner in Repsol to come to its rescue," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Cuban-born Republican and Chairwoman of the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement recently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15737573[30/11/2011 09:39:05] BBC News - Cuban oil project fuels US anxieties

The Florida Congresswoman and a group of 33 other legislators, both Republican and Democrat, wrote to Repsol warning the company that the drilling could subject the company to "criminal and civil liability in US courts".

Repsol responded saying that its exploratory wells complied with all current US legislation covering the embargo as well as all safety regulations.

It has also agreed to allow US officials to conduct a safety inspection of the Chinese rig before it enters Cuban waters.

Under the embargo it is limited to just 10% American technology.

The rig was fitted in Singapore and the one piece of US equipment which was installed was the blow-out preventer. If oil exploration goes well, Cuba could meet its energy needs and become a net exporter It was the failure of BP's blow-out preventer which was at the heart of that disaster.

According to Lee Hunt, the Scarabeo 9 is a state of the art deep-water rig and there are six similar platforms built at the same Chinese shipyard currently operating in US waters.

For the moment environmental concerns appear to be taking precedence over politics.

The government will take up Repsol's offer to inspect Scarabeo 9 and a limited number of licences have been issued to US clean-up operators to enter Cuban waters and assist in the event of a spill.

But the arguments are far from over as environmentalists are pushing for greater co-operation while Cuban-American groups are looking at ways to place legal and legislative hurdles in the way.