March 24, 2007 5:04 PM ET
Cuba Shows Off Oil Works to ForeignersSANTA CRUZ DEL NORTE, Cuba (AP) - Cuban oil officials took
foreign geologists and petroleum experts on a tour of the island's
oil and natural gas works on Saturday in hopes of sparking more
international interest in investment.
Attendees at an earth sciences conference were taken by state
oil company Cuba Petroleos to several extraction facilities in a
deposit-rich strip along the northern part of the island, including
the US$200 million (euro150 million) Cuban-Canadian ENERGAS
natural gas plant in an area called Boca de Jaruco.
"The geology we find here is very similar to that of eastern
Mexico, of the southern United States," said Rafael Tenreyro,
a drilling specialist with the state oil company, known as Cupet.
-snip-Cuban officials are betting on even richer deposits offshore,
where foreign companies are already engaged in exploratory
drilling in partnership with the communist government.
-snip-