Havana, Feb 3 (EFE).- Repsol-YPF Chairman and CEO Antonio Brufau paid a visit this week to Cuba, where an oil rig his company hired has begun exploratory drilling in deep waters off the island's northern coast, sources with the Spanish oil major told Efe.
During his stay on the Communist-ruled island, Brufau visited the Scarabeo-9 rig and also met with Cuban Basic Industry Minister Tomas Benitez, who oversees the island's oil activities.
Brufau spent two days in Cuba before departing the island Thursday night, according to the sources, who said his stay was a courtesy visit and routine in these types of projects.
Two weeks after its Jan. 19 arrival off Cuba's coast, the Scarabeo-9 on Tuesday began exploratory drilling in Cuba's Exclusive Economic Zone in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.
The EEZ covers some 112,000 sq. kilometers (43,240 sq. miles) and is divided into 59 blocks, 22 of which have been awarded to foreign companies such as Repsol, Venezuela's PDVSA and PetroVietnam.
Cuba says the zone holds as much as 20 billion barrels of crude, while other estimates put the EEZ's reserves at between 5-9 billion barrels.
The rig is located 22 miles from the northwestern port of Mariel and is operating in waters about 1,700 meters (5,570 feet) deep to determine, in a preliminary phase, the quantity and type of crude reserves found in the area.
Built in China and Singapore, the Scarabeo-9, one of the most technologically advanced oil platforms, is as long as a soccer field and 45 meters (150 feet) tall.
According to official figures, eight onshore blocks also have been awarded to Cuban state oil company Cupet and five to foreign companies.
Cuban oil production has remained unchanged at some 4 million tons annually for the past five years.
Last year, several U.S. House Democratic and Republican leaders urged Repsol, which also has leases to drill in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico, to drop plans to explore for oil in Cuban waters and warned the company of possible legal action in the United States.
In a letter sent to Brufau, 34 House lawmakers said any exploratory drilling the oil company conducts in Cuban waters "will provide direct financial benefit to the Castro dictatorship."
U.S. officials also have expressed concerns about environmental risks considering the drilling site's proximity to U.S. soil, just 95 miles from the Florida Keys, although Repsol has pledged to adhere to U.S. regulations and the highest industry standards in its drilling in Cuban territorial waters.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard inspected the Scarabeo-9 last month and found it to be in compliance with U.S. and international standards governing deep-water drilling.
