# 20 Billion Barrel oil discovery in Cuba may bring country to "big leagues"



## CougarKing (19 Oct 2008)

Greatttttt. Raul Castro may now claim to be as powerful as Chavez. :



> *20bn barrel oil discovery puts Cuba in the big league*
> • Self-reliance beckons for communist state
> • Estimate means reserves are on a par with USRory Carroll, Latin America correspondent The Guardian, Saturday October 18 2008 Article history
> A worker walks at an oil rig in Havana, Cuba. Photograph: Enrique De La Osa/Reuters
> ...


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## Kirkhill (19 Oct 2008)

Alright, now I am getting mad.

Only problem is who should I be mad at.  The Club of Rome that for 30 years of my life has been telling me we are running out of oil?  Or the Oil Producers that like DeBeers Diamonds, have been sitting on their riches in order to control the price?

Obviously it has to one or the other.  Doesn't it?


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## Greymatters (19 Oct 2008)

I notice the article fails to mention that Canadian energy companies are already working with the Cuban government on developing their oil reserves...


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## The Bread Guy (19 Oct 2008)

Greymatters said:
			
		

> I notice the article fails to mention that *Canadian energy companies* are already working with the Cuban government on developing their oil reserves...



Among others - more here and here.


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## a_majoor (19 Oct 2008)

Given the primitive economy and corrupt nature of the Cuban regime, I suspect the extra revenues from oil will have the same perverse effects as resource wealth has had on places as diverse as Kuwait, Venezuela or Saudi Arabia.


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## BCBoy (20 Oct 2008)

I wonder how the US will react? They will probably want to be buddy-buddy with Cuba now. :-\


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## George Wallace (20 Oct 2008)

Speculation:  Raoul Nationalizes the Oil Industry in Cuba and the people see no benefits of the the monies coming in.  The People rise up and throw Communism out of power.  Expatriate Cubans return home.  Capitalism flourishes.  Tourism rises.  ................................


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## Drag (20 Oct 2008)

The Castro brother proved too resilient.  They will bring in the Chinese or Venezuelans to exploit the oil.  Once they get the oil flowing it will be difficult to get them or their appointed successors out without outside help.


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## CougarKing (30 Jul 2009)

Another update:



> *Russia is to begin oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, after signing a deal with Cuba, says Cuban state media.
> *
> Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin signed four contracts securing exploration rights in Cuba's economic zone in the Gulf.
> 
> Havana says there may be some 20bn barrels of oil of its coast but the US puts that estimate at five billion.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8175704.stm


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## j0hn_r1 (30 Jul 2009)

CougarDaddy said:
			
		

> Another update:
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8175704.stm



Actually, if you read the very last line in the linked article...



> The US Geological Survey (USGS) recently estimated that as much as 9bn barrels of oil and 21 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could lie within that zone, in the North Cuba Basin.



 :-\


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