Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Cuba sta sviluppando armi di distruzione di massa.  DOBBIAMO invadere, senno' domani saremo morti!  Il popolo ci accogliera' in festa!

U.S. execs to discuss Cuban oil reserves
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- In the two years since oil reservoirs were
discovered off Cuba's coast, Canadian, Chinese, Indian and Norwegian
companies have lined up to explore the potentially lucrative Caribbean
waters.
U.S. corporations have watched the activity less than 60 miles south of
Florida's coastline with their hands tied. U.S. oil exploration in
Cuban waters - along with most U.S. trade - is prohibited under a
45-year-old U.S. embargo designed to undermine Fidel Castro's communist
government.
"Right on our own border, there is going to be substantial activity in
what is probably the last unexplored deposits in the world," said Kirby
Jones, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association.
This week, American energy executives meet their Cuban counterparts in
the first private-sector oil summit between the two countries. Cubans
hope to inform the businessmen of their country's oil potential while
undermining the embargo, which has often frustrated American
corporations.
The three-day meeting, which starts Thursday, is sponsored by the
U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, along with Valero Energy Corp., the United
States' biggest oil refiner, as well as the Louisiana Department of
Economic Development and the Texas Port of Corpus Christi, among
others.
Representatives from major U.S. oil companies are also expected to
attend, Jones said.
Cuba's delegation is to be led by Fidel Rivero Prieto, president of the
state oil company, CubaPetroleo. Officials from the Cuban Ministry of
Basic Industries and Cuba's ministries of foreign trade, foreign
investment and foreign relations will also be present, Jones said.
Aided by Canada's Sherritt International Corp., Cuba has steadily
increased output of low-quality heavy crude and now produces 75,000
barrels daily, about half of what it needs. It imports the rest, much
of it on favorable terms from political ally Venezuela.
It also has turned to other foreign companies to explore further. In
2004, the Spanish petrochemicals company Repsol-YPF SA announced it had
found petroleum reservoirs off Cuba's coast. The first well was not
considered commercially viable, but the company recently announced it
will conduct a second exploration.
This time, however, Repsol will join up with China's largest offshore
oil producer, CNOOC Ltd.; Norway's industrial company Norsk Hydro ASA,
and India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp., ONGC.
The group will explore seven deep-water blocks estimated to contain
more than 4 billion barrels in oil and gas reserves. Earlier
explorations, however, turned up only modest discoveries.
The petroleum reservoirs have fueled the Cuban government's hopes of
increased self-sufficiency amid tightened U.S. sanctions.
Since 2004, Cuba has pumped $1.7 billion into its energy sector with
help from Canada, Europe and Latin America, Rivero Prieto said in a
letter to the summit's organizers.
He said Cuba would welcome U.S. companies, adding, "Unfortunately that
is not possible now."
"But we can begin the process to get to know each other, exchange
contact information. ... In this way, both of us will be prepared to
discuss real business opportunities as soon as that becomes possible,"
he said.
Mike Olivier, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic
Development, agreed.
"Nobody wants to be left out, and the potential business in this new
market for Louisiana companies is significant," Olivier said. "This
meeting will allow companies from our state to meet Cuban counterparts
and get in on the ground floor."
Jones said he would like to see the U.S. government relax its sanctions
for the energy sector as it did for food and agricultural products
under a 2000 law allowing sales to Cuba on a cash basis.
Cuban officials say they have contracted to buy $1.5 billion in
American food since Castro's government began taking advantage of the
change in 2001.
Cuba was almost wholly dependent on oil imports and imported most of
its supply on extremely favorable terms from the former Soviet Union.
It stepped up its own exploration after the collapse of the Soviet
bloc.
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Sarei oltremodo contento se l'embargo, in questo caso, si rivelasse a
svantaggio degli Stati Uniti e gli affari li facessero canadesi e
norvegesi.

 wrote:

I canadesi sono già i primi partner commerciali di Cuba...

tra maggiori partner commerciali maggiori ci sono canadesi, Spagnoli ed
italiani... gli usa ci perdono gia qualcosa dall'embargo...

italiani... gli usa ci perdono gia qualcosa dall'embargo...
Gli Usa hanno *sempre* perso qc (dal punto di vista economico) con
l'embargo a Cuba. Infatti molti imprenditori stanno facendo carte
false pur di non farsi soffiare gli affari da tutti gli altri...