"Cuba To Drill for Oil in Water Deeper Than Failed BP Well"

"Cuba is expected to begin drilling offshore for oil and gas as soon as next year in waters deeper than those the Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling in when it exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

The Spanish energy company, Repsol, which drilled an exploratory well in 2004 off the coast near Havana, has contracted to drill the first of several exploratory wells with a semi-submersible rig that's expected to arrive in Cuba at the end of the year, said Jorge Pinon, an energy expert and visiting research fellow at the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

He said the rig is expected to begin drilling in 5,600 feet of water about 22 miles north of Havana; and 65 miles south of Florida's Marquesas Keys. The oil reservoir is thought to lie 13,000 feet below the seafloor. The Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling in about 5,000 feet of water when it exploded on April 20, touching off the oil spill that fixated the Gulf region throughout the spring and summer."

Lesley Clark and Sara Kennedy report for McClatchy Newspapers September 29, 2010.