Cuba plans to commence oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico; in an article from Inter Press Service, Patricia Grogg discusses potential environmental and political consequences:
Cuba is sticking to its plans to begin oil exploration this year in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico, and has assured neighbouring countries that “every reasonable” safety and environmental protection measure will be taken, in an area still haunted by the disastrous effects of the crude oil spill in 2010.
The announcement by a Cuban expert that five wells would be drilled in the area by seven foreign partners, beginning “this summer” and continuing until 2013, was food for thought for those who are concerned that finding oil might be more of a bane than a blessing…
…[O]il is a powerful economic interest that is likely to work in the island’s favour, since as soon as significant quantities of oil are proven, U.S. companies will be likely to lobby for the lifting of the nearly five-decade embargo that prevents them from participating in this country’s oil industry.
At present Cuba produces some 21 million barrels a year of oil and gas, equivalent to only 46 percent of its needs, and imports from Venezuela a further 100,000 barrels a day of crude. A few years ago it began to focus exploration efforts on its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Gulf of Mexico.
The prospects of finding crude in deep waters “are quite promising,” said Manuel Marrero, a top expert at the Ministry of Basic Industry, who told reporters he had dreamed of a significant discovery “for 50 years.”
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For operations in deepwater (400 to 1,500 metres) and ultra deepwater (over 1,500 metres), foreign partners have leased a platform regarded as one of the best in terms of safety and technology, that is due to arrive in Cuba in mid-2011.
The oil rig that will be used “is one of the world’s safest and most modern” and will operate under “very strict” regulations, Marrero said.
Cuba also has contingency plans in case of hurricanes or other extreme phenomena.
“We offer the same guarantees as the international oil community,” Marrero told IPS, while he avoided mentioning U.S. legislators who want to bring pressure to bear to stop the drilling because of its alleged environmental risks.
The Cuban safety strategy takes into account the lessons learned from the explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on the Deepwater Horizon platform leased by BP (formerly British Petroleum), which spilled five million barrels of crude between April and July 2010 and caused severe damage to the environment and wildlife in vast ocean and coastal areas.
A consortium headed by the Spanish company Repsol-YPF will begin drilling the first well as soon as the Scarabeo 9 platform, manufactured in China, arrives in Cuba.
For more read the full article, Balancing Bane and Blessing of Oil, at the IPS website.
Previous related posts on Green Antilles: 20 new oil wells for Cuba in 2011, In 2011, oil drilling will begin in Cuban water, and Maritime boundary negotiations between Cuba and The Bahamas.
[Photo: kris krüg]
