Sunday, July 23, 2006
Cuba Drills for Oil 60 Miles Off U.S. Coast
With Congress deadlocked over allowing oil drilling in presently restricted areas of the Gulf of Mexico, communist Cuba is already drilling for oil 60 miles off the coast of Florida.
Republicans in Congress have tried repeatedly in the past decade to open up the outer continental shelf to exploration. There are an estimated 45 billion barrels in oil reserves and 232 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in banned drilling areas of the Gulf, and Florida's waters hold the promise of major energy finds.
They have been strenuously opposed by Florida and environmental-minded legislators from both parties. Florida's powerful tourism and booming real estate industries fear that oil spills could hurt their business.
Meanwhile Cuba "is exploring in its half of the 90-mile-wide Straits of Florida within the internationally recognized boundary as well as in deep-water areas of the Gulf of Mexico,” the Washington Times reports.
Two Canadian companies are presently pumping more than 19,000 barrels of crude oil each day from fields in the straits about 90 miles from Key West, and a Spanish company has announced an oil strike in deep-water areas of the same region, according to the National Ocean Industries Association.
Cuba's state oil company, Cubapetroleo, has signed a deal with China's Sinopec to explore for oil, and it is using Chinese-made drilling equipment in the search.
Sterling Burnett, a fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank, said America’s quarter-century limits on offshore drilling are putting the U.S. at a strategic disadvantage as oil and gas prices reach record highs.
"Canada and even economically backward Cuba are moving forward with plans to drill in offshore areas that abut U.S. coastal waters," he told the Times.
"Since pools of oil do not respect international boundaries, it is almost certainly true that Canada and Cuba will be accessing oil that could otherwise be developed by and for the benefit of Americans."
The House last month passed a bill that would allow coastal states to decide whether to open the first 100 miles of their waters for oil exploration. The states permitting exploration would receive half of the hundreds of billions of dollars in royalties and fees from drilling that would otherwise go to the federal government.
A Senate bill would permit drilling in a key area in the eastern Gulf but allow Florida to retain a 125-mile no-drilling buffer zone.
With Congress deadlocked over allowing oil drilling in presently restricted areas of the Gulf of Mexico, communist Cuba is already drilling for oil 60 miles off the coast of Florida.
Republicans in Congress have tried repeatedly in the past decade to open up the outer continental shelf to exploration. There are an estimated 45 billion barrels in oil reserves and 232 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in banned drilling areas of the Gulf, and Florida's waters hold the promise of major energy finds.
They have been strenuously opposed by Florida and environmental-minded legislators from both parties. Florida's powerful tourism and booming real estate industries fear that oil spills could hurt their business.
Meanwhile Cuba "is exploring in its half of the 90-mile-wide Straits of Florida within the internationally recognized boundary as well as in deep-water areas of the Gulf of Mexico,” the Washington Times reports.
Two Canadian companies are presently pumping more than 19,000 barrels of crude oil each day from fields in the straits about 90 miles from Key West, and a Spanish company has announced an oil strike in deep-water areas of the same region, according to the National Ocean Industries Association.
Cuba's state oil company, Cubapetroleo, has signed a deal with China's Sinopec to explore for oil, and it is using Chinese-made drilling equipment in the search.
Sterling Burnett, a fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank, said America’s quarter-century limits on offshore drilling are putting the U.S. at a strategic disadvantage as oil and gas prices reach record highs.
"Canada and even economically backward Cuba are moving forward with plans to drill in offshore areas that abut U.S. coastal waters," he told the Times.
"Since pools of oil do not respect international boundaries, it is almost certainly true that Canada and Cuba will be accessing oil that could otherwise be developed by and for the benefit of Americans."
The House last month passed a bill that would allow coastal states to decide whether to open the first 100 miles of their waters for oil exploration. The states permitting exploration would receive half of the hundreds of billions of dollars in royalties and fees from drilling that would otherwise go to the federal government.
A Senate bill would permit drilling in a key area in the eastern Gulf but allow Florida to retain a 125-mile no-drilling buffer zone.
