http://www.cubastandard.com/2012/11/17/russian-oil-company-to-invest-126m-in-offshore-exploration/
November 17, 2012
Russian state oil company Zarubezhneft will spend close to $126 million on near-shore exploration off north-central Cuba that will begin in December, a Russian official said during a visit to the island.
The Songa Mercur, a Soviet-built and Norwegian-owned semi-submersible, arrived Nov. 15 in Cuban waters, Russian Comptroller Sergei Stepashin confirmed. According to Russian news service rt.com, a delegation of Russian and Cuban officials visited the platform Thursday, after it arrived in Cuban waters from Trinidad & Tobago. The group included Stepashin, Zarubezhneft CEO Nikolay Brunich, and Russia’s ambassador to Havana, Mikhail Kamyshin.
Zarubezhneft chartered the semi-submersible for 325 days to drill in Block L, the easternmost of four blocks the company leased in 2009. Block L is located off the keys of Villa Clara province, near Cayo Santa María, a new beach tourism destination Cuba has been developing over the past 10 years.
The first exploration results, according to Stepashin, will be announced in May.
“It’s an important investment, but it’s an investment in the future,” Stepashin said, according to RIA Novosti, before meeting with Raúl Castro. Both expressed confidence, according to the Russian news service.
“We hope that in a fourth intent, following three failed ones, we will see ‘big oil’,” the Russian official said, referring to exploratory drilling this year by the Scarabeo 9 platform. “This would be of enormous help to the Cuban economy and a step ahead in our relations, as well as a response to the defenders of the [U.S. embargo].”
Zarubezhneft’s confidence is based on prospecting done by the Soviet predecessor company, he said.
The Songa Mercur is owned by Oslo-based Songa Offshore AS. The shallow-water rig, built in in a Soviet shipyard 1989 and updated in Galveston, Texas, in 2007, can drill in depths of up to 1,200 feet. In contrast, the Scarabeo 9 platform, used by Repsol, Petronas and PdVSA in Cuba, can drill in depths up to 12,000 feet; the Scarabeo was custom-built in China and Singapore with minimal U.S. content, to comply with U.S. sanctions.
Zarubezhneft subsidiary JSC RMNTK Nefteotdacha has also begun onshore prospecting in the Boca de Jaruco area near Havana and expects to begin drilling in March or April. Last year, the Russian oil company signed an agreement with CubaPetróleo about the use of experimental technology to maximize production in the mature oil field. If the technology is successful, Zarubezhneft and CubaPetróleo will expand their cooperation.
Before the visit to the oil rig, Stepashin and Cuban officials signed anti-corruption agreements in Havana that include training and professional enhancement courses for Cuban auditors.
Zarubezhneft is drilling in Block L, the easternmost of four blocks contracted in 2009
Special thanks to Richard Charter