HAVANA, (Reuters) – French oil major Total signed an agreement yesterday to explore for offshore oil with Cuban state oil monopoly CubaPetroleo (Cupet) in a deal reached during a visit to the Communist-run country by French President Francois Hollande.
Cuban state-run television reported the exploration agreement without giving further details.
A dozen foreign firms have explored in Cuba’s deep waters over the years, sinking four wells but finding no oil.
Total has explored close to shore, drilling two wells in the early 1990s. They came up dry and Total left in 1995.
For over a decade, Cuba has asserted its Exclusive Economic Zone off the northwest coast holds more than 20 billion barrels of undiscovered crude.
Last week Cuba unveiled new data it said confirmed there were billions of barrels of oil beneath its Gulf of Mexico waters.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated the region holds 5 billion to 7 billion barrels.
Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA and Russia’s state-run Zarubezhneft still retain exploration rights, according to Roberto Suarez Sotolongo, Cupet’s co-director.
Cuba hopes the discovery of oil offshore will free it from dependence on other countries, such as socialist ally Venezuela.
