November 22, 2008

India finalizes oil & gas cooperation agreement with Cuba

India and Cuba have finalized India Cuba Hydrocarbon Agreement for cooperation in the oil and gas sector. This emerged at an hour long meeting between Mr Murli Deora union minister of petroleum & natural gas and his Cuban counterpart Ms Yadira Garcia Vera at Madrid on the occasion of 19th World Petroleum Congress.

Recognizing the need for such a mechanism for facilitating further cooperation between the two countries, the two sides agreed that Mr Deora would visit Cuba for signing the agreement which could coincide with spudding of oil wells by ONGC Videsh in its exploration block in Cuba.

Mr Deora recalled the long standing friendly relations between the two nations and emphasized that the process to further cement ties should be carried forward in the backdrop of ventures finalized in recent years. OVL acquired interests in 9 exploration blocks in Cuba including 100% in two blocks. The contracts for these blocks were signed in 2006. He expressed keen interest of the Indian companies to participate in both upstream and downstream projects in Cuba which have good potential to fructify.

Ms Garcia Vera invited investment in the planned new refinery project on the west coast of Cuba. She said that the project is slated to have a capacity of 1.5 million barrels a day. Further Indian companies could also participate in the capacity expansion and up gradation of the existing refineries. Showing keen interest in the proposal, Indian side explained that India has set up refineries which produce latest grade environment-friendly fuels of Euro III and Euro IV standards. Besides domestic markets, these products also cater to export markets including the US and Europe.