The rig was specifically built for drilling in the waters of Cuba. It is compliant with the United States embargo against Cuba, which limits the amount of American technology that can be used in equipment used there, as less than 10% of its parts are American-made. The news agency Reuters has reported that only the blowout preventer of "Scarabeo 9" is manufactured in the United States. This is one of the most critical devices for well control during the offshore drilling as malfunctioning of the blowout preventer was one of the reasons of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. However, due to the United States embargo, the original equipment manufacturer is not allowed to provide spare parts or repair items for the blowout preventer.