Cuba: Gazprom Neft mulling use of Scarabeo-9 platform for drilling operations

Source: Interfax

Moscow, 31 October

Gazprom Neft is studying the possibility of using the Scarabeo-9 drilling platform for offshore operations in Cuba, Lukoil Oversea (Lukoil’s international upstream operator) said in its corporate publication, Oil Opportunities.

Spanish-Argentinean company Repsol has drilled the first deep-water exploration well in the Cuban sector of the Gulf of Mexico. Repsol’s partners, which are leasing or plan to lease Scarabeo-9, include Gazprom Neft, CNPC, ONGC and Petronas, the publication said.

Gazprom Neft acquired a 30% stake in a product sharing agreement (PSA) in Cuba. Gazprom Neft’s partner is Malaysia’s Petronas. The companies plan to perform geological exploration four blocks (N44, N45, N50 I[sup.1] N51) in the Gulf of Mexico.

If commercial production starts at these fields, the companies’ agreement foresees the production of oil there until 2037 and gas until 2042. According to signed agreements, Gazprom Neft is compensating the Malaysian stake with so-called “historical” payments.

Gazprom Neft president Alexander Dyukov said that the company hopes to put over 300 million tonnes of oil equivalent from outside of Russia on its balance sheet in the near future, including 135 million tonnes of oil equivalent from Cuba.