Cuba's oil, gas output unchanged in 2009

Cuba's oil, gas output unchanged in 2009
Jan, 01, 2010 09:55 AM - EFE Ingles

Havana, Jan 1 (EFE).- Cuba produced some four million tons of oil
equivalent in 2009, roughly the same amount as the previous year, and is
now setting its sights on exploring new deposits with the aim of
replacing output from fields that have slid into decline, the official
media reported.

The 4 million tons of oil equivalent extracted last year include around
3 million tons of crude and an amount of natural gas equivalent to one
million tons, the head of exploration for Cuban state oil company Cuba
Petroleo, Rafael Tenreyro, said in a report aired Thursday by state
television.

The expert said that production last year remained almost unchanged
relative to 2008, when 4 million tons of oil equivalent was produced.

Tenreyro added that some oil fields are reaching maturity and entering
into a period of decline and that therefore finding replacement reserves
is paramount.

The Cupet official said efforts to explore for and evaluate new deposits
will encompass the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and
areas along the island's northern coast, particularly the so-called
"heavy crude belt" between the western provinces of Havana and Matanzas.

Several foreign oil companies - including Spain's Repsol-YPF,
Venezuela's PDVSA and Vietnam's PetroVietnam - operate in Cuba's EEZ, a
112,000-square-kilometer (43,243-square-mile) area that is divided into
59 blocks

Cupet said in late 2008 that about 20 billion barrels of oil could lie
in its EEZ, while the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated a more modest
total of around 4.6 billion barrels of recoverable crude. EFE

Cuba's oil, gas output unchanged in 2009 - Poten & Partners (1 January 2010)
http://www.poten.com/NewsDetails.aspx?id=10283715