USGS reviews Cuba's oil potential

USGS reviews Cuba's oil potential
Report finds no commercial quantities of oil or gas in deepwater reserves.
By Daniel J. Graeber | April 1, 2015 at 6:34 AM

WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) -- Most of Cuba's petroleum demand is met by
Venezuela and there is no commercial production from deep offshore
reserves, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
USGS said it produced a briefing on Cuba's extractive industries in
response to the re-establishment of diplomatic ties with the United
States. Ties between both countries were severed in 1961.

Prior to the trade embargo enacted in 1962, U.S. companies held
interests in several petroleum refineries in Cuba. Now, USGS said
Venezuela dominates the sector by meeting more than 60 percent of the
country's petroleum demand. The second largest refinery in Cuba
processes only Venezuelan crude oil.

Most of the Cuban petroleum production comes from coastal reserve areas
east of Havana.

"As of 2015, deepwater drilling by such foreign companies as Repsol of
Spain and Zarubezhneft of Russia has resulted in no discovery of
commercial quantities of oil or gas," the USGS report read.

The report follows a bill introduced last week by two Florida
congressmen that would force companies to pay for oil cleanup on U.S.
soil. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., and his Democratic counterpart,
Patrick Murphy, said they were concerned about Havana's oil spill
response plans now that Cuba was opening its doors.

A delegation from the U.S. National Oil Spill Commission visited Cuba in
2011 to examine Havana's oil plans. Cuba the same year announced plans
to ease the dependency on Venezuela by developing its offshore reserves.

USGS estimated there were about 4.6 billion barrels of crude oil and 9.8
trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the form of undiscovered,
technically recoverable, reserves in Cuba. About three quarters of that
is said to be located within 50 miles from shore.

Source: No deepwater reserves off Cuba as of 2015, USGS finds - UPI.com
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http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/04/01/USGS-reviews-Cubas-oil-potential/2711427881524/