In My Humble Opinion, Pt. 24

February 5, 2011


From the St. Petersburg Times:


With Cuba poised to drill for oil off its coast as early as this spring, Florida lawmakers are renewing efforts to block it, citing fears about damage to the state's beaches in the event of a major oil spill.

Sarasota Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan introduced legislation to allow the U.S. Interior Department to deny oil and gas leases to companies involved in Cuba's oil drilling operations. Sen. Bill Nelson plans to reintroduce legislation to pull the visas for executives of such companies. Nelson also is hoping to "outline our position'' in a yet-to-be-scheduled meeting with officials from the Spanish energy giant, Repsol, which is working with Cuba [...]

The renewed push for legislation that seeks to dampen global interest in Cuba's offshore industry comes as a semisubmersible rig is being readied in Singapore for use in Cuba. Repsol, which drilled an exploratory well in 2004 off the coast near Havana, has contracted to drill the first of several exploratory wells. Other countries have also expressed interest in drilling in Cuba.

The Interior Department and the White House declined to comment on Buchanan's legislation.

A spokesman for Repsol said the company had no comment, but noted that its plans for 2011 include one well in Cuba, as well as one offshore and two onshore rigs in the United States.

Buchanan said his legislation would force Repsol "to make a choice — Cuba or the U.S." He noted that Repsol "scrapped'' plans to build a gas development plant in Iran amid U.S. pressure [...]

A leading embargo supporter suggests Havana is touting its oil reserves in hopes of rallying support for easing the embargo. The embargo already affects the oil program: The country had to secure a rig that didn't violate the law, which prevents vessels with more than 10 percent U.S. parts from operating in Cuba.

"This is part of a decade-long propaganda campaign by the regime in order to secure the oil industry's support for joining the lobby against the embargo," said Mauricio Claver-Carone, director of a leading pro-embargo lobby, the U.S. Cuba Democracy political action committee. He notes that Cuba lacks capacity for refining crude oil.

"We've been through this before," Claver-Carone said of reports Cuba is ready to drill. "It's the little boy who cried wolf."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more background on this topic, click here to read the New York Times op-ed, "How the Cuban Embargo Protects the Environment."