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Indian oil search in Cuban
waters
By Stephen Gibbs, BBC
News, UK, September 7, 2005.
Havana - The Indian state oil company,
ONGC, has come to an agreement with the
Cuban government to begin exploring for
oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
The US geological survey has estimated
that up to five billion barrels of oil could
lie undiscovered in Cuban waters.
Drilling might begin next year but previous
deep water drilling attempts have not proved
commercially viable.
The United States trade embargo on Cuba
prevents American companies from participating
in the exploration.
Cuba's portion of the deep waters of the
Gulf of Mexico remains largely unexplored
for oil.
Rising oil prices make that exploration
far more attractive.
American oil companies
Already, companies from Canada and Spain
have been assigned parts of the 112,000sq
km area.
Now India is joining in the search.
To sustain growth, we need energy, and
to get that energy, we are trying to tap
all the sources
Inderjit Singh, India's junior foreign
minister
Announcing the successful bid, India's junior
foreign minister, Inderjit Singh, said his
country had valuable experience in deep
water oil exploration and an expanding thirst
for energy.
"India's economy is growing at seven
to eight percent over the last 15 years,"
Inderjit Singh said.
"To sustain this growth, we need energy,
and to get that energy, we are trying to
tap all the sources - Cuba is one of them."
India will be exploring in an area adjacent
to where the Spanish company Repsol last
year found oil, although not enough, it
decided, to be commercially viable.
Its success or failure will no doubt be
closely watched by American oil companies.
Many operate tantalisingly close to Cuban
waters in the Gulf.
The Cuban government has previously said
that they too could bid for exploration
rights.
But the US trade embargo prevents them
from doing so.
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