Cuba Oil thriller, chapter 2...

Cuba Standard/

Johannes Werner, editor

Chapter 1 of Cuba's economic story of the year is over, and now it's on to the next chapter. Repsol's first exploratory well turned up dry, and now the Scarabeo-9 platform - specifically built for drilling in Cuba - has moved westward, to a block controlled by Petronas, off the coast of Pinar del Río province. The Malaysian state oil company, in a partnership with Russia's Gazprom Neft, is drilling in an area that is untouched by previous drilling. Where the rig will go from there isn't clear. A Repsol executive told investors last year the company was planning to evaluate the results of the first drill before making a decision whether it will use the platform for a second drill. Meanwhile, Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA reportedly is in line for Scarabeo-9.    

At $600,000 a day, exploratory offshore drilling is an expensive gamble for oil companies in Cuba. However, this is the name of the game; on average, four out of five exploratory wells turn up empty. So, including a previous drill by Repsol in 2004, Cuba is at two down ...