Cuba to drill six oil wells off Florida Coast

Cuba's Oil drilling project off Florida begins Nov 1

09 / 13 / 2011

While it’s been the subject of rumor, gossip and misinformation for the last several years, this time it’s real: drilling off the north shore of Cuba is scheduled to begin November 1. Six wells are planned to be drilled with this rig by the various international companies who own exploration rights off the north shore of the island.

Spanish energy company Repsol and its partners are now bringing the Chinese-built [drilling rig] Scarabeo 9 to a site off Cuba’s northwest coast, where it aims to drill as soon as November at a depth of more than 5,500 feet, deeper than the blown-out well that spewed 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf last summer.

[link to www.cubaheadlines.com]

September 12, 2011

An oil rig built by China is now en route to the deep waters off northwest Cuba, where it could begin drilling exploratory wells as soon as November.

Recently, U.S. oil spill experts were in Havana, including the man who co-chaired the investigation into last year's BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. group says long-running American trade sanctions stand in the way of proper spill preparation and a coordinated cleanup if something goes wrong on the wells that are just 60 miles from the Florida Keys.

Offshore oil drilling is banned along the Florida coastline. But the Cuban operation will be so close to U.S. shores that ocean currents could carry a spill through the Florida Keys, and foul beaches along the Atlantic Coast.

[link to www.npr.org]