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HAVANA: The Cuban government is striving to boost energy production
and efforts are being made to enhance energy efficiency in the face
of rising oil prices on the world market, local media reported
Wednesday.
Recent studies show that it is possible for Cuba
to open 32 new oil and gas wells in its waters, and the government
has bought 10 drilling machines for those projects.
Cuba owns 112,000-square kilometer of the Gulf
of Mexico where research indicates a strong likelihood for oil and
gas discovery.
According to experts, the country has the
geological conditions that could form oil deposits, and this has
been proven by the recent discovery and exploitation of oil fields
in the Havana-Matanzas area in western Cuba.
It also reported sustained growth in gas and oil
production on land with resources that would last dozens of years at
current extraction rates.
The nation’s vice-president, Carlos Lage,
described 2007 as a good year for oil production, saying that output
had not been so high since 2003.
According to government statistics, Cuba
produces 85,000 barrels of heavy crude every day, which, with high
sulfur content, is mostly used for generating electricity.
The rest of its demands are satisfied by
imports, especially from Venezuela, which sells the island 90,000
barrels crude a day at low prices and with favorable conditions.
-- Xinhua
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