Petronas starts work in Cuba

Energy Resources

Petronas starts work in Cuba
Published: June 7, 2012 at 7:28 AM

HAVANA, June 7 (UPI) -- A Malaysian energy company said it picked up
where Repsol left off with drilling for oil off the northern coast of Cuba.

The U.S. Energy Department estimates there may be around 1 billion
barrels of oil reserves off the coast of Cuba. Spanish energy company
Repsol, however, last month said it was abandoning efforts despite
spending around $100 million on an exploration campaign.

Citing Cuban reports, Bloomberg News states that Malaysian energy
company Petronas began drilling off the Cuban coast using the same
Scarebeo-9 rig employed by Repsol.

State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela will start an exploration campaign
following the effort by Petronas.

Cuba produces half of the oil it needs to meet overall energy demand. It
relies on imports that it gets at a subsidized rate from the Venezuelan
government for the rest. The country aims to cut the amount of oil it
imports from Venezuela through development of offshore reserves.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/06/07/Petronas-starts-work-in-Cuba/UPI-91181339068528/