Cuba Reports Discovery Of 20 Billion Barrels Of Oil

Friends and foes have called Cuba many things - a progressive beacon, a quixotic underdog, an oppressive tyranny - but no one has called it lucky, until now .

Mother nature, it emerged this week, appears to have blessed the island with enough oil reserves to vault it into the ranks of energy powers. The government announced there may be more than 20bn barrels of recoverable oil in offshore fields in Cuba's share of the Gulf of Mexico, more than twice the previous estimate.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[mjt218]

This oil has not been discovered as Cuba claims . . . The US EIA estimates Cuba's potential at 1.5 Billion barrels (9/07) and the US Geological Survey estimates 9 billion barrels.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Caribbean/OilProduction.html

Check the link with EIA (many on this site use EIA frequently to show the minimal impact of additional US production in OCS) and you'll see that Cuba's throwing out these numbers to try and encourage external investment.

Interesting to note that no Chinese interests have offshore lease blocks to date in Cuba as many claim. China's Sinopec has some onshore production interests and India's ONGC has some offshore interests (along with several Canadian firms and Norway's StatoilHydro).

[1man1voicenovote]

Horizontal drilling has begun.

[marika]

This is enough to inspire McCain and Palin to burst into song - Bomb, baby, bomb. After all she is the big "specialist from up there in Alaska "and if there is oil it belongs to us! We already have one foot on the ground with Gitmo.

[kaski]

Hey, they must have weapons of mass destruction somewhere on that island! Let's bring democracy to Cuba at the end of a rifle. How dare them be an independent nation not giving their oil to the Bushes and their cohorts in crime. How dare them to try and lower the price of oil globally by getting their oil on the market like Saddam wanted to do, to get Iraq back on its feet economically after fighting the Iranians for eight years and going broke. Viva Cuba!!

[mjt218]

Cuba won't produce its oil to lower global oil prices, they'll produce it to make money just like everyone else. It's also a mistake to confuse Saddam's invasion of Kuwait to grab oil following the Iran/Iraq War with a motive of improving the economic livelihood of the people of Iraq.

[NYCSocialWork]

Why do I get the craaaaazy feeling that McCain will all of a sudden now WANT to open talks with Cuba? (After criticizing Obama for it?) Thaaaat's right! The same ol' GOP reason for just about everything...

[lwfky]

Wow, I can't wait to see the Republicans reaction to this. If this is true, I predict that Bush begins to talk of normalizing relations with Cuba before he leaves office (or, there will soon be talk of WMD's in Cuba)!

[SeagirlX]

I hope nobody thinks this is a coincidence that all of a sudden there's more oil. Please.

[Softnsweet]

Bush and Cheney probably hid the oil until they leave office.

[1man1voicenovote]

40,000 oil tankers stuffed to capacity, unable to offload, floating at sea?
Imagine that!

[imusintheevening]

I hope this helps the poor citizens of Cuba who have suffered under political duress from the US for decades.

[cjger]

Cuba. Our new best friend.

[gifu]

Somebody lock down Cheney!!

[HeevenSteven]

Time to drill Guantanamo; put the terrorists to work.

[ConCreteHead]

Curious if any of the off-shore sports books are placing the line at for when the US GOV'T will start a war on terror with CUBA over the new find.

I wonder if the BUSH administration will drop one of the current members of the "AXIS of EVIL" and add CUBA or if it will go a new route and remain it something even stupider like the "QUADRIATIC EQUATION of EVIL" so it can lump them all together.

This just in from WORLD SPORTS EXCHANGE / CUBA INVASION -205 money line !!! Wall Street better get their money in, if it happens it will be a little better than a 2:1 return. That is better than our current US TRESURY bailout plan !!!

[TreadingWater]

I think they should start pushing the "spectrum of evil". That way, they could subtly tie it in with "teh evil ghey" and the current terrorist color chart of danger. I'm really really glad that neo-cons don't do "subtle".

[fcsakes]

I guess it's time for another "attack on America", so we can blame it on Cuba, invade them, slaughter half their populace, destroy their country, deploy cheney's contractor buddies, and take over their oil reserves.

[Princemarko]

Oil in Cuba means China(which has oil agreements with Cuba) will benefit greatly. I'm sure some side drilling will occur 30 miles off our Florida shores.

[DEMTRUPATRIOTS]

LOOK OUT CUBA...AMERICA WILL BE THERE ANY SECOND TO SUCK YOU DRY...

[WorldGoneWild]

I'm suprised energy regulator Sarah Palin doesn't have a plan to tap into some of that Cuban oil considering her vast economic and foreign policy experience.