Repsol comes up dry for Cuba exploration well
WASHINGTON -- Spanish oil firm Repsol has announced that an exploratory well in Cuban waters wasn't successful and will be capped.
In February, Repsol initiated deep-water exploration drilling about 50 km north of Havana as part of its global exploration operations. Repsol's drilling efforts represented the beginning of Cuba's push to develop its offshore oil resources, in part to wean itself off imports from Venezuela.
"The well was dry," said Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix. "Geologists are evaluating how we move forward."
Repsol resumed exploration in the area after it failed to find exploitable oil in 2004. The U.S. Geological Survey has said there could be 5 billion barrels of untapped oil off the Cuban coast.
The Repsol well was much closer to Florida than any other well in the region. U.S. authorities previously inspected Repsol's Scarabeo 9 drilling rig off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago and said the vessel complied with existing international and U.S. standards.
The Spanish company is operating the rig in partnership with Norway's Statoil and a unit of India's ONGC.
In February, Repsol initiated deep-water exploration drilling about 50 km north of Havana as part of its global exploration operations. Repsol's drilling efforts represented the beginning of Cuba's push to develop its offshore oil resources, in part to wean itself off imports from Venezuela.
"The well was dry," said Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix. "Geologists are evaluating how we move forward."
Repsol resumed exploration in the area after it failed to find exploitable oil in 2004. The U.S. Geological Survey has said there could be 5 billion barrels of untapped oil off the Cuban coast.
The Repsol well was much closer to Florida than any other well in the region. U.S. authorities previously inspected Repsol's Scarabeo 9 drilling rig off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago and said the vessel complied with existing international and U.S. standards.
The Spanish company is operating the rig in partnership with Norway's Statoil and a unit of India's ONGC.
Dow Jones Newswires
