Brazil, Cuba negotiate an oil venture

The Brazilian oil company Petrobras is negotiating with Havana for offshore exploration rights, the president of the Cuban oil company Cupet told the Brazilian news service Agência Estado. According to Fidel Rivero, Cuba has confirmed the existence of reserves of up to 20 billion barrels of crude in waters off the Gulf of Mexico -- twice the estimate made recently by U.S. government experts. "What we shall produce will be well above our needs. Therefore, our objective is to transform our country into an exporter [of crude] in the next several years and use the revenue to finance our economy," said Rivero (shown here with Raúl Castro.) One estimate is that initial production will be 500,000 barrels per day; Cuba consumes 140,000 b/d. Cupet and Petrobras are now discussing rates of investment and exploration conditions, Rivero said. A final announcement on the negotiations is expected in a few months. Rivero also said that American oil executives are visiting Cuba to find out more about the island's oil potential -- "but they're coming in as tourists, through the back door."
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.

Comments

[Laz]

Hi,
Just on the next Usa president table!