02-02-05 Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras, now boosting energy cooperation in Cuba, could team up with Canada's Sherritt or Spain's Repsol as it moves to explore two new prospecting zones off Cuba, the Brazilian ambassador here said. After passing on two zones earlier selected for it to explore in 2002, "Petrobras is waiting to find out its (new) designated zones to carry out deep-water offshore prospecting," ambassador Tilden Santiago said.
"We don't know yet if we are going to do it with the Spaniards (Repsol), the Canadians (Sherritt) or alone," Santiago explained.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, 78, announced on December 25 that oil reserves of at least 100 mm barrels had been found off the northern coast near Santa Cruz del Norte, east of Havana, which is to be developed by a Cuban state firm in cooperation with Sherritt. Led by Castro since 1959, Cuba has been in dire economic straits since the collapse of the former Soviet block, which once provided subsidized food and fuel.
Energy has been the Achilles heel of Cuba's economy for years, and Havana has been unable to complete a Soviet-technology nuclear reactor that was planned for Juragua. With its oil-burning plants, Cuba has had to rely on Venezuelan imports, while its own crude -- which is high in sulphur -- has required costly cleaning to be used.

Venezuela, Latin America's only OPEC member, delivers 53,000 bpd of crude to Cuba.
The find announced in January -- Cuba's first since 1999, and cleaner than other home-grown crude, according to Castro -- catapults Havana toward energy self-sufficiency and should ease the economic strain on the communist regime.