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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Profits Likely If Oil Found in Cuban Waters |
| 2004-06-13 |
| The future of Cuba’s economy over the next few years may hinge on a wild card: the discovery of commercially viable oil off the island’s shores. Cash-rich oil company Repsol-YPF S.A. of Spain is set to drill an exploratory well off Cuba’s northwest coast in the Gulf of Mexico this summer. If Repsol finds a major deposit of viable crude, then cash-strapped Cuba stands to gain access to enough export dollars to significantly boost its standard of living. U.S. oil companies likely would seek a piece of the action, boosting pressure on the White House to peel back the decades-old U.S. embargo on the communist-led island. That was one of the conclusions Thursday at a conference on U.S.-Cuba economic relations held in Coral Gables and organized by Florida International University. Panelists said debt-wracked Cuba now faces a serious credit crunch, limiting the dollars and euros available to buy badly needed oil and food abroad. Cuba imports about half its oil, mainly from Venezuela and Russia, but the government lacks the big bucks needed to expand local oil production. But if Repsol finds a large deposit of low-sulfur, light crude in Cuban waters that’s considered worth tapping, then Havana’s cash crunch could "go away in a minute," said Philip Peters, vice president of the Lexington Institute of Arlington, Va. The daylong conference looked at strategies Florida might use to tap opportunities in Cuba, when the U.S. embargo is further reduced or lifted. Tim Lynch, who directs an economic forecasting center at Florida State University, predicted a boom with open U.S.-Cuba trade. Cuba’s economy would soar, with growth rates jumping from 2.6 percent last year and likely 3 percent this year to perhaps 7-12 percent yearly. Investment would pour into telecom and transport, spurring billions of dollars in new business with the United States and creating thousands more U.S. jobs, especially in Florida. Yet Florida business leaders voiced caution. Cuba-born Carlos M. de la Cruz, who oversees a Coca-Cola and Budweiser distribution group with sales of roughly $500 million a year, warned a new government in Havana might not fling open the doors to foreign investment: Russia’s post-communist regime didn’t. Plus, a new regime in Cuba might still face a credit crunch, just as other developing nations in the Caribbean now do, said de la Cruz of Miami-based Eagle Brands Inc. A former Canadian diplomat in Cuba also reminded Florida firms to expect competition in a post-embargo Cuba, one no longer led by four-decade president Fidel Castro. A post-Castro Cuba won’t be "a blank slate," said Mark Entwistle, Canada’s ambassador to Cuba from 1993-97. "There will be a myriad of existing, developed relationships with other foreign companies, governments and individuals." Those include Canada’s Sherritt International Corp., a big metals and energy producer in Cuba, and Spain’s Repsol -- seeking the oil offshore. |
| Posted by:Jesika Espinola |
| #10 That's why, OldSpook, they're known as "watermelons": green on the outside, red on the inside. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-06-13 4:23:30 PM |
| #9 But AP, that was our fault! Don't you remember? Life will be much easier for you if you remember that everything bad that happens anywhere in the world is the fault of the US, and anything good that happens, happens in spite of the US, or is done by the UN (or both). :-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-13 2:57:48 PM |
| #8 Speaking of greenies, I do not recall the Green's and enviroweenie's outrage when Sammy blew up the oil wells and made massive oil spills in Kuwait in '91. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-06-13 2:25:00 PM |
#7 Are the Greens going to take Cuba to task?Of course not, OldSpook. Whyever would you even ask? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-13 1:19:13 PM |
| #6 Above should read: "Are the Greens going to take Cuba to task?" |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-06-13 12:42:54 AM |
| #5 Funny thing is: we banned ourselves from drilling even exploratory wells due to a threat to the environment. Are the going to take Cuba to task? If they do not, then the mask is finally off the Green movement: If they don't protest this, then its pretty clear they are not greens, but Marxists. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-06-13 12:41:49 AM |
| #4 Oil rig-cum-refugee welcoming center. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-06-13 12:38:58 AM |
| #3 I'd make darned sure I know just where the international boundary is before setting up a platform. And then I'd paint the rig red, white and blue. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-06-13 12:35:28 AM |
| #2 Interesting thought..just miles out and Castro can't do a bloody thing. If there is enough oil it would greatly assist our import situation. I wonder if the EPA will cry about it? |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-06-13 12:21:15 AM |
| #1 establish wells in int'l waters just outside Fidel's boundaries (12 miles) and drill at an angle. Pump him dry |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-13 12:11:54 AM |