Cuba plans round of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
Eric Watkins
OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 -- Cuba's basic industries minister, echoing earlier remarks by state officials, said his country expects new oil exploration to take place this year in Cuba's Gulf of Mexico waters.
"Our plan is that this year we should begin conducting the first new prospecting in the gulf," said Yadira Garcia in a statement broadcast over state television.
Garcia's remarks follow earlier ones by Julio Jimenez, the director general of Cuba's state-owned Cupet, who said the firm intends to begin drilling 24 new oil wells this year to increase production.
"In 2009, Cupet has decided to increase its drilling with our own resources," Jimenez said over state television, adding that 16 of the wells will be completed this year.
Both statements follow an April 2008 announcement by Garcia that test drilling would resume this year in the gulf, where a number of foreign companies are carrying out seismic studies.
Cuba's Exclusive Economic Zone off the country's northwestern coast is divided into 59 blocks covering an area of some 112,000 sq km (see map, OGJ, Dec. 11, 2000, p. 42).
In 2005, the US Geological Survey estimated that as much as 9.3 billion bbl of oil could lie off the island's northern coast, while Cuban geologists more than doubled that figure to 20 billion bbl last October.
Companies operating in the zone include Repsol YPF SA, StatoilHydro SA, Oil & Natural Gas Corp., Petronas, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Petrovietnam, and Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
Exploration would see the resumption of test drilling that Repsol YPF began in 2004 which, according to Cuban authorities, showed positive but noncommercial results.
International oil companies help Cuba produce 80,000 b/d of crude oil, meeting about 47% of the country's domestic needs. The remaining 53% of the domestic demand is met by Venezuela, which supplies 92,000 b/d of oil.
The import process was stepped up in early February, when the joint Cuban-Venezuelan shipping company Transportes ALBA (Transalba) acquired its first tanker, the 72,700-dwt Petion, which will transport crude oil from Venezuela's Puerto La Cruz refinery to Cuba's Camilo Cienfuegos refinery.
"This ship will generate savings in shipping payments and increase guarantees with respect to the transport and supply of hydrocarbons to the region," PDVSA said.
A second ship, the 72,700-dwt Sandino, is expected to arrive in March. The partners are also pondering acquiring a third ship to supply oil and products to countries in Central America.
Transalba is one of several joint ventures agreed upon by President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel and Raul Castro. Cuban firm Internacional Maritima and PDVSA's Cuban subsidiary PDVSA Cuba each hold a 50% stake in Transalba.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].