RPT-Cuba offshore oil rig delayed til mid-summer-sources | Energy & Oil | Reuters
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RPT-Cuba offshore oil rig
delayed til mid-summersources
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* Construction delays, repairs put off expected arrival
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* Rig is key to Cuba offshore oil development
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* Cuba says may have 20 billion barrels of oil offshore
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HAVANA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A Chinese-built drilling rig that was expected
to arrive in Cuban waters in the first quarter of 2011 and begin the first
full-scale offshore oil exploration there has been delayed until midsummer, industry sources said on Friday.
They said construction of the rig, known as the Scarabeo 9, had
progressed more slowly than planned and now it would likely not get to
Cuba until late June or early July.
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"That's the time frame we're being told," said an official from a
company involved in the project, who asked not to be named.
Cuba and a number of international oil companies, led by Spain's Repsol
YPF (REP.MC: Quote) (REP.N: Quote), are eagerly waiting to see what
lies beneath the Caribbean island's part of the Gulf of Mexico, where
Cuba says it may have 20 billion barrels of oil in its untapped fields.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated a more modest 4.6 billion
barrels and 10 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The expected rig, which belongs to Saipem (SPMI.MI: Quote), a unit of
Italian oil company ENI SpA ENI.M, was constructed at Yantai CIMC
Raffles YRSL.NFF shipyard in China, but due to delays was sent in
October to the Keppel Fels (KPLM.SI: Quote) shipyard in Singapore for
completion.
As it was being towed to Singapore, a water leak was discovered that
required repair, said the company official.
Delays for the Scarabeo 9, which is a high-tech semi-submersible rig
capable of working in water depths up to 3,600 meters (11,811 feet),
are not new. It was originally set for completion in September 2009.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN0723371820110108?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true[13/01/2011 09:06:05]
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RPT-Cuba offshore oil rig delayed til mid-summer-sources | Energy & Oil | Reuters
A Repsol-led consortium that includes Norway's Statoil (STL.OL: Quote)
(STO.N: Quote) and ONGC Videsh, a unit of India's Oil and Natural Gas
Corp (ONGC.BO: Quote), has contracted the rig first and will drill one or
two exploratory wells off Cuba's northwestern coast, then pass it on to
other companies with leases for offshore blocks.
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Repsol drilled the only previous exploration well in Cuba's part of the
Gulf of Mexico in 2004 and said it found hydrocarbons, but has not yet
sunk another well.
It was widely believed to have had problems finding another rig that did
not violate the long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, which
limits the amount of American technology that can be used.
Malaysia's state oil company Petronas and its partner Gazprom Neft
(SIBN.MM: Quote) of Russia are slated to get the rig after Repsol, then
it will go to ONGC Videsh, which has two blocks of its own.
Other companies with Cuban offshore leases include Brazil's Petrobras
(PETR4.SA: Quote) PBR.N., Venezuela's PDVSA, PetroVietnam and
Angola's Sonangol.
Russian oil firm Zarubezhneft has two nearshore blocks and an
agreement with PetroVietnam to participate in exploration of its three
blocks.
No U.S. companies are involved in Cuba because they are prohibited by
the U.S. embargo against the island, 90 miles (145 km) from Florida.
For Cuba, much is riding on the outcome of the projects. It needs the
oil to help its fragile economy and to end its dependence on oil-rich
socialist ally Venezuela, which provides about 115,000 barrels per day
on favorable terms.
The country is currently in the midst of economic reforms to modestly
liberalize one of the last state-dominated, Soviet-style systems in the
world. (Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Sofina Mirza-Reid)
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http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN0723371820110108?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true[13/01/2011 09:06:05]