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Cuba promotes oil investment
opportunities in its Exclusive Economic Zone
Rafael Tenreyro Pérez, head of Cuba Petróleo’s (Cupet)
Exploration Group emphasized that Cuba is promoting
its sea and land oil prospects and potential
opportunities for foreign investment in the sector,
at the 21st World Petroleum Conference, scheduled
June 14-19 in Moscow.
The
event will be an opportunity to promote the
prospects of Cuba’s Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE) in
the Gulf of Mexico, where assessments of preliminary
investigations have just begun, commented Tenreyro.
He
stated that drilling work continues in the zone –
which includes deep water exploration – and that
only four wells have been drilled to date. “It is
necessary to clarify that all our deposits are in
the sea and have been accessed via horizontal
drilling, which means we need to go further and we
have the potential to do so,” he commented.
Tenreyro emphasized the challenge Cuba faces in
drilling wells in deep water. He also stated that
Cuba has historically been considered a non-oil
producing nation, despite which, in the last few
years it has modestly begun to increase extraction
and has confidence in its future as an oil producer.
He
commented that Cuba’s participation in the 21st
World Petroleum Congress will encourage
international investment given the discovery of
proven oil deposits in the sea, highlighting that
Cuba plans to open the central and eastern part of
country’s northern territorial waters, toward the
border with Haiti, to foreign investment and that
emphasis will be placed on opportunities the sectors
offers.
Tenreyro also emphasized that Cuba will present
proposals for similar projects in shallow waters,
such as those which will begin shortly off the
central and eastern sections of the northern coast,
after an agreement was signed with the Bahamas. He
reported that the results of additional
investigations related to the exploitation of
non-conventional resources, and secondary recovery
of oil in declining deposits, will also be
presented.
“The
event in Moscow will allow us to learn about the
latest knowledge and technology in the field of
exploration, drilling, exploitation, production,
refining and commercialization of hydrocarbons,” he
emphasized.
Manuel Marrero Faz, PhD, oil advisor for the
Ministry of Energy and Mining, explained that this
will be the seventh occasion Cuba has participated
in the event, considered to be the Petroleum
Olympics.
“It
will be an opportunity to establish bilateral
conversations with all oil companies,” he said.
Since 1992 Cuba has been a member of the World
Petroleum Council, which holds a congress every
three years of a technical, scientific, commercial,
financial and political character, and includes the
participation of executives and representatives from
state and private business in the sector.
(Granma
International news staff)
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