Cuba to drill five new oil wells

[Tempest]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/art...0c97673c9ec.a31
Quote:
Cuba on Tuesday announced plans to drill five deepwater oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico beginning this summer, expressing confidence that its efforts will be rewarded with major new energy finds.

"We're about to move to the drilling phase," said Manuel Marrero, an official with the government authority tasked with overseeing Cuba's oil sector.

"We're all really hopeful that we will be able to discover large reserves of oil and gas," said Marrero, who added that the ventures would be undertaken with the help of unspecified foreign companies.

No need to worry about safety though, they have it covered:
Quote:
Despite the BP oil spill tragedy in the gulf, Tenrreyro insisted "safety is more than guaranteed. Cuban institutions have made sure that is the case."

 

[Artem]

I wouldn't let one incident (thanks BP!) ruin it for the rest of the guys who are working the wells properly. I say, let em drill!

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: Artem
I say, let em drill!


http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherhelma...nd-u-s-embargo/

We should offer to buy every last drop of that oil at pre-negotiated contract prices!

 

[powayroger]

We (The leadership of the USA) has such a double standard. We limit our drilling based upon environmental concerns, but we don’t care how our suppliers get their oil as long as we can get their oil.

 

[Astro14]

Am I the only one worried by the "Cuban institutions have made sure that is the case" statement?

You ever see how effective those institutions are in other areas? Like, oh, transportation, medicine, manufacturing, banking...Sure, tourism (and a few commodities) keeps their per capita GDP around middle of the world (109th out of 229...) but their technical ability? Yikes!

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT

http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherhelma...nd-u-s-embargo/

We should offer to buy every last drop of that oil at pre-negotiated contract prices!

Quote:
Other companies lined up to drill include Russa’s Gazprom, India’s ONGC-Videsh, Malaysia’s Petronas, and Venezuela’s Pdvsa. All of these are state-controlled companies; none (except for Statoil) have much, if any, experience drilling deepwater wells anywhere, let alone in the Gulf of Mexico.

Well it's a good thing that Cuba, which has no oil drills, has safety handled.

 

[Burt]

Wonder where they intend to sell it?

 

[Boomer]

About 15 years ago, I flew to Frankfurt, Germany on Lufthansa. We landed and taxied to a place on the apron where the plane parked to allow us to deplane to a bus. Next to us was a Cuban airliner. Our captain came on and in German-accented English said, "Look at the windscreen of that plane as you get off. He flew it here from Cuba with a crack in the windscreen!" And sure enough, a large crack ran from the top to the bottom of the glass. The wings and some of the fuselage were black from fuel/oil/hydraulic fluid or some combinationthereof that had been allowed to accumulate. I have NEVER seen such a decrepit looking jet aircraft anywhere.

 

[crw]

I was going to say something, but thought better of it...

 

[fdcg27]

Was this a Soviet built aircraft?
Cubana used them exclusively not so long ago.
While we often deride Soviet technology, their airliners as well as their military hardware, their spacecraft (which supported various missions while our shuttle was grounded) and their heavy equipment are among the toughest in the world.
Since you saw the airplane in Germany, was it by chance an IL-62 (four engines, aft fusalage mounted, like a VC-10)?
Finally, the windscreens are laminated of many layers, and a crack in one does not indicate imminent failure.
Why would the Lufty left-seater have thought that the aircraft came all the way from Cuba with a cracked window anyway?
The Cubana aircraft may have simply hit a German bird on approach.

 

[Boomer]

I think it was Soviet built. The pilot also metnioned that they had seen this aircraft at Franfurt several times with the crack. No one who is safety minded would fly this, IMO.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: Boomer
I think it was Soviet built. The pilot also metnioned that they had seen this aircraft at Franfurt several times with the crack. No one who is safety minded would fly this, IMO.

and of course it makes perfect sense that a cracked windshield in a Cuban aircraft FIFTEEN YEARS AGO shows that they can't possibly be capable of doing anything safely, ESPECIALLY drill for oil.

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: mpvue

and of course it makes perfect sense that a cracked windshield in a Cuban aircraft FIFTEEN YEARS AGO shows that they can't possibly be capable of doing anything safely, ESPECIALLY drill for oil.

They didn't have the technology to build the aircraft and they don't have the technology to build oil rigs.

 

[fdcg27]

They don't need to build airliners, and they don't need to build rigs.
Like most of the world, they'll buy both either from us, the Euros, the Russians, or the Chinese.
A small, poor country like Cuba will purchase technically advanced products from the large, rich nations that develop and build them.
To make a really simple analogy, I drive a car, but I don't have the resources or the expertise to build one from scratch.

 

[Michael_P]

Backed by Hugo.

 

[hillclimber]

Wells to be drilled by Repsol, of Spain, looks like:

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/04/08/no-deal-yet-for-gulf-of-mexico-drilling-near-cubas-coast/

 

[Trvlr500]

Originally Posted By: powayroger
We (The leadership of the USA) has such a double standard. We limit our drilling based upon environmental concerns, but we don’t care how our suppliers get their oil as long as we can get their oil.


Precisely. I wonder how long it's going to take everyone to figure out WHY the U.S. is the only country on the planet who can't use it's OWN natural resources when every country on the globe is here taking them.

 

[Michael_P]

Woah! If they dont have the tech, does that mean they will have to rely on Capitalism? I guess so, if that is what you call Citgo.


Okay I have to edit. I just saw hillclimbers post. Good article.

 

[LTVibe]

The Scarabeo-9 platform

Quote:
A huge drilling rig arrived Thursday in the warm Gulf waters north of Havana, where it will sink an exploratory well deep into the seabed, launching Cuba's dreams of striking it rich with offshore oil.

The Scarabeo-9 platform was visible from Havana's sea wall far off on the hazy horizon as it chugged westward toward its final drill site about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the capital, and 60 miles (90 kilometers) south of Key West.

 

[pbm]

Fidel and Raul Castro are two of the world's richest men....Communism has been "berry, berry guud to them"....