Russia to renew Cuba's oil industry

Russia to renew Cuba's oil industry
Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:09:55 GMT
Russia has announced plans to invest in Cuba's oil and nickel
industries, ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's upcoming visit to the
Island.

Moscow is considering a number of deals, which require certain Russian
firms to explore Cuba's coastal waters for offshore oil in the Gulf of
Mexico, Russia's Ambassador to Havana Mikhail Kamynin said Saturday, AFP
reported.

Cuba is already in talks with firms from Spain, Norway, India, Canada,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Venezuela and Brazil to explore prospects of offshore
drilling.

Should Moscow and Havana ink the deals, Russian firms would be
responsible for developing crude oil and oil derivative storage
facilities as well as modernizing the Island's oil pipelines, Kamynin said.

The planned deals include one between Russia's NorNickel and Cubaniquel
to build a plant in Holguin province.

In October, Cuban officials said the Island's crude reserves were almost
twice what they had predicted to be, claiming that the Caribbean nation
had a crude reserve of 21 billion barrels.

The Russian president, who embarked on his Latin American tour on
Saturday, is expected to arrive in Havana on Thursday, after making
stops in Peru, Brazil and Venezuela.

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