Cuban Windfall: Billions of Barrels of Black Gold

Cuba may have just hit the oil jackpot, with a revised estimate of its reserves doubling. That means the small island nation has about as much oil as the United States. American conservatives may soon have to choose between their love of oil and the half-century-old embargo that would keep Cuba’s petroleum away. How do you say “drill, baby, drill” en Español?

The Guardian:

Friends and foes have called Cuba many things - a progressive beacon, a quixotic underdog, an oppressive tyranny - but no one has called it lucky, until now .

Mother nature, it emerged this week, appears to have blessed the island with enough oil reserves to vault it into the ranks of energy powers. The government announced there may be more than 20bn barrels of recoverable oil in offshore fields in Cuba’s share of the Gulf of Mexico, more than twice the previous estimate.

If confirmed, it puts Cuba’s reserves on par with those of the US and into the world’s top 20. Drilling is expected to start next year by Cuba’s state oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet.

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