HAVANA, (Reuters) – A Chinese-built drilling rig to be used in the first major exploration for oil in Cuba’s offshore waters arrived yesterday off the coast of the communist-ruled island’s capital.
The rig, known as Scarabeo 9, could be seen as it sailed slowly westward, miles off the north coast and Havana’s famed Malecon seaside boulevard.
Its arrival went mostly unnoticed by people in the capital, but it was a long-awaited and landmark day for the island’s oil industry, which believes the platform will tap into rich oil fields in Cuba’s part of the Gulf of Mexico.
Starting next week, Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF, working in partnership with Norway’s Statoil and ONGC Videsh, a unit of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is expected to drill at least two wells in Cuban waters about 70 miles (112 km) from the Florida Keys.
