Repsol gets partners in blocks off Cuba

June 12, 2006
Repsol YPF Cuba SA, operator of six offshore blocks in Cuba’s exclusive economic zone, is conducting 3,000 sq km of 3D seismic and geological studies and has accepted two partners in the venture.

Repsol YPF Cuba SA, operator of six offshore blocks in Cuba’s exclusive economic zone, is conducting 3,000 sq km of 3D seismic and geological studies and has accepted two partners in the venture.

Norsk Hydro ASA, Oslo, and ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL), New Delhi, signed an association contract in Havana with Repsol and Cuba’s state company Cubapetroleo SA (Cupet) to explore the blocks. Repsol YPF, which will remain operator, is retaining a 40% stake, and Hydro and OVL each will hold 30%.

Repsol found noncommercial oil 18 miles off Cuba’s northwestern coast in 2004 (OGJ, May 15, 2006, p. 15). It is one of 16 international companies that have signed contracts with Cuba since 1999 to explore on 10 of Cuba’s 59 Gulf of Mexico oil and gas exploration blocks (see map, OGJ, Dec. 11, 2000, p. 42).