Cuba to expand oil drilling program
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| Published on Thursday, March 22, 2007 |
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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN): Cuba says it will see a significant increase in the number of oil wells drilled on land, off-shore and in deep sea areas included within an area of the Gulf of Mexico in which the island has exclusive rights to drill.
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Cuban Basic Industry minister Yadira Garcia.
AFP PHOTO |
The statement was made by Cuban Basic Industry minister Yadira Garcia during the opening on Tuesday of the Geological Sciences Congress, which is being attended by 700 foreign and local experts from 19 countries.
Prospects for the discovery of new oil reserves have encouraged operations by the Cuban oil company Cubapetroleo and the signing of exploration contracts and joint production projects with major international oil producers, said the Cuban minister.
Garcia said that a responsible and serious discussion about the future of oil and gas production cannot be assessed if analysis does not include concerns over the rational use and preservation of new reserves.
The Cuban minister also noted that the island is working hard to further expand its nickel industry and produce other products with high amounts of value added. "Our country has the third largest reserves of nickel and cobalt in the world and it ranks close to first place in the production of such metals," she commented.
Geosciences 2007 also includes the 7th Cuban Congress on Geology, the 4th Cuban Congress on Geophysics, the 2nd Cuban Mining Congress, the 1st Cuban Congress on Oil and Gas and a workshop on the integration of geology and mining in countries that have joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). |
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