Cuba & Energy: A news chronology

(From stories compiled by FOCAL, the Canadian Foundation for the Americas)

2005

Oil and Other Resources

January 8: Iran and Cuba reached an agreement on a project to repair, maintain and renovate Cuba's power industry. The Iranian ambassador to Havana, Ahmad Edrisian, visiting Yadira Garcia, Cuban Minister of Basic Industries, evaluated cooperation ties between the two countries. (MNA, 8/1/05)
January 11: An innovative project entitled, the "Oil Logistics Platform" will be extended throughout Cuba in an effort to optimize the nation's oil reception and distribution network. A study headed by Dr. Roberto Gonzalez of the Carlos Rafael Rodriguez University in Cienfuegos, was first used in a pilot project in the central Cuban province. (Radio Habana Cuba, 11/1/05)
January 25: Consumers were taken aback by a new hike in the price of diesel fuel, which in less than 8 months has gone from 45¢ per liter before May 2004 to 55¢, and now 75¢. There have been no reports in the local media regarding the new increase, and Oro Negro and Cubapetróleo gas station operators said that they were given little notice before the price rise went into effect. They explained that the measure applies to the general public and private enterprises, which pay in cash; government enterprises and institutions will not be affected. (EFE, 25/1/05)
January 27: Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras, now boosting energy co-operation in Cuba, could team up with Canada's Sherritt International Corp. or Spain's Repsol as it moves to explore two new prospecting zones off Cuba, the Brazilian ambassador in Havana 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," he added. (National Post, 31/1/05)
January 31: Cuba and China signed a contract in Havana providing for the Asian giant's participation in extracting oil from a deposit off the island's north shore, the press reported. The deal is between Cubapetroleos and the Chinese oil company Sinopec, said the official daily newspapaer Granma. In December, Fidel Castro announced discovery of oil at a site offshore from Santa Cruz del Norte, some 55 kilometers (33 miles) east of Havana. The deposit is believed to hold some 100 million barrels of "light" crude, or the equivalent of 14 million tons. (EFE, Prensa Latina, 31/1/05)
February 8: China's oil giants began cultivating their virgin soil in Cuba. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), as the first comer, has inked a contract with Cuba Oil Company (Cubapetroleo) to jointly exploit oil in the Caribbean country. Under the terms of their contract, the two sides will join forces to prospect and exploit a potential oil-producing region. Chinese experts believe it is a significant beginning of the cooperation between China and Cuba in the petroleum industry. (SinoCast, 8/2/05)
March 22: Chinese oil drilling equipment has begun arriving in Cuba as state-run Cubapetroleo (Cupet) and its foreign partners prepare to significantly increase drilling along the northwest coast, industry sources said. "Four service units and a small rig have arrived and we are waiting for more," said a Cuban oil service manager, asking his name not be used. There are currently five rigs operating along the northwest heavy oil belt, an 80-mile (128-km) stretch of coast in Havana and Matanzas provinces from whence come all of Cuba's 70,000 to 80,000 barrels per day of heavy crude at 8 API to 18 API and with a high sulfur content. The poor-quality oil is burned in modified power plants and factories. Cuba imports a similar amount of oil and derivatives, with preferential financing from Venezuela. Canadian companies Sherritt International (S.TO) and Pebercan Inc. (PBC.TO), in conjunction with Cupet, account for 60 percent of the output, plus 2 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. (Reuters, 22/3/05)
March 29: Montreal based PEBERCAN Inc. announced that a new well in the Northern coast of Cuba, SEBORUCO 9, was successfully completed. This new well was drilled to optimize the drainage of the eastern part of the field. First tests show a good potential for this well with production ranging from 1200 to 1500 barrels per day. PEBERCAN Inc. is involved in the exploration, development and operation of oil reserves in Cuba. Its mining domain includes five concessions covering 6,055 km2. (CNW Group, 29/3/05)
April 6: The operator of China's second-largest Shengli oilfield is stepping up overseas exploration, spending more on such ventures this year as the world's No. 2 oil user grapples with falling reserves, officials said. Shengli Oilfield Administration Bureau, a unit of state-run Sinopec Group, will spend about $40 million drilling for oil and gas in Cuba, Iran and central Asia in 2005, company officials said. "This will be the heaviest spending in a year and we expect the pace to continue in the next few years," a Shengli executive told the press. Shengli, which is among the first Chinese companies to venture abroad, will sink a total of eight wildcat and appraisal wells this year, four in Kazakhstan, two in Iran, and one each in Cuba and Kyrgyzstan. (Reuters, 6/4/05)
April 19: Cuba has gradually increased oil consumption to 173,000 barrels per day, thanks to rising imports despite high prices, according to preliminary figures from the country's National Statistics Office. The NSO reported local production last year declined to 68,000 bpd, the same level as in 2002, after increasing slightly in 2003. Petroleum and derivative imports increased from 84,000 bpd in 2002 to 98,000 bpd in 2003 and 105,000 bpd last year, the NSO said. Canadian companies Sherritt International (S.TO) and Pebercan Inc. (PBC.TO), in conjunction with state-run Cubapetroleo (Cupet), account for 60 percent of the output, plus 2 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. (Reuters, 19/4/05)
April 26: Venezuela's state-run company Petróleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, will open an office in Cuba during a meeting aimed at boosting trade between the two Caribbean nations, the Venezuelan government news agency reported. The PDVSA office will be located in Havana, according to the Bolivarian News Agency. Hoping to further deepen economic relations, an estimated 400 Venezuelan business people will begin exhibiting their goods during a four-day trade fair in Havana. (AP, BNAmericas.com, 26/4/05)
April 27: Venezuela's government-controlled Banco Industrial de Venezuela and the state oil company Petroleos Venezolanos were opening offices in Havana -- moves that could help the growing bilateral trade. Venezuela has increased oil shipments to Cuba to 80,000-90,000 barrels a day and will make Havana the headquarters for its Caribbean energy operations, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said. Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), will open an office in Havana when President Hugo Chavez visits Cuba to strengthen a growing political and economic alliance. Ramirez said PDVSA is now looking beyond oil supplies to the building of storage and tanker terminal facilities in Cuba, and exploring joint ventures to refine petroleum for distribution to other Caribbean islands. An agreement to build a lubricants plant in Cuba will be signed, and Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras (PETR4.SA) (PBR.N), has been invited to join the venture, he said. Brazilian diplomats said no agreement has been reached with Petrobras in ongoing talks on the lubricants project. Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, is also studying involvement in the completion of the Soviet-built refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba, to process Venezuelan crude for distribution in the Caribbean. Another refinery project under study by PDVSA would be in Matanzas, Cuba's main tanker port, he said. (La Jornada, AP, Reuters, 27/4/05)
April 28: Venezuelan state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA will prospect for, pump and refine oil from Cuba's Gulf of Mexico economic zones, the company announced. The announcement came as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez paid a visit to Cuba to bolster the countries' economic co-operation, and open a PDVSA office in Cuba. Spain's Repsol YPF SA also has been prospecting off Cuba. PDVSA will work with Cuba "in prospecting and production [on new wells located in territorial waters] as well as in refining and marketing," PDVSA said. In January, Brazilian ambassador Tilden Santiago said Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras SA, also now boosting energy co-operation in Cuba, could team up with Canada's Sherritt International Corp. or Repsol as it moves to explore two new prospecting zones off Cuba. Cuba is paying for the estimated $1 billion a year oil bill with medical and educational services. Officials said 30,000 Cuban doctors and medical personnel are working in Venezuela. (The Globe and Mail, Reuters, 28/4/05)
May 4: Canadian mining and energy company Sherritt International posted first quarter operating profits from its oil and gas business in Cuba of Cdn$21.1mn (US$16.9mn), up 21.3% from Cdn$17.4mn in the first quarter of 2004 (1Q04) , the company said in its 2005 first quarter earnings statement. Revenues rose to Cdn$49.7mn from Cdn$47.6mn in 1Q04 due to higher realized prices, partly offset by lower production volumes. The average price in Cuba rose to US$28.40/b in the quarter from US$24.21 in 1Q04. Sherritt's net oil sales in Cuba fell to 17,523b/d from 19,964b/d in 1Q04 and first quarter gross operated Cuban oil production fell 9.13% to 39,219b/d from 43,157b/d in 1Q04. This figure excludes production from Santa Cruz on block 7 because the field has not yet been declared commercial. Following on from promising initial results from the Santa Cruz exploration well in December, 2004 [that tested at a rate of 1,300b/d], Sherritt has begun drilling two appraisal wells in this field," the statement said. "If initial results are borne out, commercialization of the field is anticipated around the end of the year." Four drilling rigs were active during the quarter, drilling a total of seven development wells and one exploratory well. Sherritt sells all heavy oil produced in Cuba to Cuban government agencies, generally at selling prices based on 79-83% of the Gulf Coast fuel oil no. 6 reference price. The impact of higher fuel oil prices was partially reduced by the strength of the Canadian dollar. (BNAmericas, 4/5/05)
May 9: The 6th International symposium over the use of hydrogen as fuel was inaugurated at the National Hotel in Havana. Experts from different countries will debate the contribution of this fuel to the development of a Cuban sustainable electro-energetic system. The production of hydrogen in the country is low because it is mainly used as refrigerant in thermoelectric plants. It is very valuable to be able to broaden and update the knowledge about new technologies, according to Antonio Valdés of the organizing committee. Cuba will host for the first time in Latin America a meeting of this type, including experts from 25 countries mainly from developing nations. (Prensa Latina , 9/5/05)
May 31: Spanish-Argentine oil and energy company Repsol YPF said that it will spend more than 21.1 billion euros ($26.1 billion) as part of a five-year global investment plan, with particular emphasis on exploration and production. The company said some 11.4 billion euros ($14.1 billion) will go specifically to exploration and production under its 2005-2009 strategic plan. Chairman Antoni Brufau said exploration and development projects will spearhead the company's growth in the next five years beyond its traditional markets of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. Brufau also said Repsol will continue exploring for oil in Cuba. (AP, 31/5/05)
June 2: Cuban-Canadian joint venture ENERGAS will increase electric power generation with natural gas this year, starting with important investments in the west of Cuba, it was announced. Specialists estimate that ENERGAS will exceed 300 MW/h by the end of November 2005, and has the fringe benefit of preventing 100 tons of sulphur being released into the atmosphere daily. ENERGAS is a joint venture comprised of Cuban Unión Eléctrica and Cuba Petróleo, and Canadian Sheritt, and has national recognition by the Cuban Science, Technology and Environment Ministry. It commenced operations at the end of 1998, and was the first initiative to produce cheaper electric power, and foster the aspiration to generate all electric power in the country from national crude oil, now at 90 percent. (Prensa Latina, 2/6/05)
June 2: The Canadian conglomerate Sherritt International reported $16.9 million in revenues for its oil and natural gas operations in Cuba during the first quarter of 2005. The report, posted on the website of the Cuban Ministry of the Basic Industry, states that this figure represents a 21.3% increase in company revenues. Sherritt is planning to step up production by early 2006, when drill sites currently being assessed in Santa Cruz, north of Havana, become fully operational. (EFECOM, 2/6/05)
June 3: Spanish oil-prospecting company Repsol YPF resumed subsurface sounding in Cuban waters, following a failed attempt last year. With a new joint-venture deal that entitles it to 40% of all revenues and puts it at the helm of the drilling rig, the company is planning to pick up where it left off. Other shareholders in the joint-venture will be Chinese state-owned CNOOC, with a 30% stake, and Norwegian Norsk Hydro, with the remaining 30%. (Notimex, 3/6/05)
August 28: The Caribbean Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said it has begun negotiations with the Cuban government for oil exploration in that country. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC is in talks with the Cuban government for oil exploration in that country," ONGC chairman Subir Raha told reporters. (Indian Express, 29/8/05)
August 29: Cuba purchased 21 generators from a factory in Denmark's northern Jutland, Danish regional newspapers reported. To meet growing energy needs, Cuba acquired 21 generators worth approximately $26.7 million from MAN B&W Diesel in Frederikshavn. The unusually large order represents more than 20 percent of a year's production of motors at the factory. The generators, which will be used in six new power stations in Cuba, will all be delivered in 2006. The first shipment will be delivered in January. The two sides negotiated the order over the past six months; final confirmation of the order was signed by Fidel Castro. (Danmarks Radio, Energy Watch, 29,31/8/05)
September 6: The overseas arm of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has successfully bid on two blocks in Cuba's potentially rich Gulf of Mexico waters, a company executive said. "We are very interested and simply waiting for the final signing before beginning work," the senior executive from ONGC Videsh Ltd. said, asking that his name not be used. He was in Cuba as part of a delegation led by India's junior foreign minister, Rao Inderjit Singh. High oil prices and the international scramble to buy up potential resources has increased interest in Cuba's largely unexplored Gulf of Mexico waters, a Cuban industry source said. He said contracts for the blocks would be signed with India in September and other blocks would go to another Asian country's state-run oil company soon. (Reuters, 6/9/05)
September 20: Indian ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has acquired a 30 per cent stake in seven oil and gas blocks in Cuba, which hold more than 4 billion barrels of oil reserves. Spain's Repsol-YPF is the operator of some of the blocks and the remaining is with Norway's Norsk Hydro. "OVL has entered into an agreement with Repsol-YPF of Spain to acquire 30 per cent participating interest in deepwater exploration blocks in Cuba," a company press release said in New Delhi. (India Business, 20/9/05)
November 24: PetroChina Great Wall Drilling Co., Ltd. and Petroleum Company of Cuba held a ceremony for signing two drilling service contracts on November 3, 2005. It is the second-time cooperation between Great Wall Drilling Co., Ltd. and Petroleum Company of Cuba after the signing of a one-year petroleum service agreement on one 1500HP drilling rig and one 2000HP rig on April 8 this year. The contract signed this time includes three 2000HP drilling rigs. The contract has a period of one year and a value of over US$24 million. The project will be launched in January 2006. (China Chemical Reporter, 24/11/05)
December 22: Cuba's combined oil and natural gas production fell by 3.7% in 2005, following a similar decline in 2004, the country's Economy and Planning Minister said. Minister José Luis Rodríguez said oil production fell and gas output increased over last year's reported 22.8 million barrels of oil (62,300 b/d) and 24.9 billion cubic feet of gas, without providing further details. "While gas output increased, crude declined (…) due to problems such as drilling delays and hurricanes," Rodríguez said in a year-end speech to parliament, adding that drilling would increase in 2006 in hopes of upping production. Cuba imports at least 92,000 b/d of oil and derivatives in exchange for medical and other services from Venezuela. Canadian companies Sherritt International and Pebercan, in cooperation with Cupet, account for around 60% of domestic output. Spanish oil company Repsol YPF has signed a contract to look for lighter oil in the deep waters off Cuba's coast in partnership with ONGC of India and Norsk Hydro. ONGC also has two separate deepwater blocks and Sherritt four. Sinopec of China signed an agreement earlier this year to jointly produce heavy oil with Cupet in westernmost Pinar del Río province, with drilling expected to begin in 2006. (The Oil Daily, 27/12/05)

Electricity crisis

January 3: According to a Cuban official, power supply indicators in Cuba will behave "more favorably" in 2005. "It will be hard work but, by the end of the year, we should be ready to restore power generation back to normal levels," said Basic Industry Vice-minister Pedro Abigantús. The official, who is also Director for Power Generation in the National Power Company, added that equipment breakdowns due to lack of maintenance have caused an electric power deficit problem that remains unsolved. (EFE, 4/1/05)
April 21: Dealing with rising oil prices, Fidel Castro has made a call not to waste electricity. The Cuban leader recalled that 20 percent of the electricity generated in the country is lost in transmission and distribution. Hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted on energy because of problems in the systems used to take the electricity to the final consumer. The country needs to take short-term measures to cope with this problem. Cuba has already purchased modern equipment for the manufacturing of wire and the necessary raw material to produce insulation. "We will carry out an intense work on this regard and a total revision of existing networks," Fidel Castro said. Castro announced the purchase of a huge number of energy saving light bulbs and fluorescent lamps to substitute incandescent light bulbs units. (Prensa Latina, 22/4/05)
May 20: The problems with the electrical service that have been affecting Cuba in recent days are due to damages in thermoelectric units in the country, according to an Electric Union note. "Serious damage has been affecting the electrical service, with stoppages of generating plants when important maintenance works were being carried out," according to the brief report that did not refer to the power stations damaged. The text asserts the situation will improve in the next days. (Prensa Latina, 20/5/05)
June 2: The blackouts that have affected Havana and other parts of Cuba were caused by breakdowns in power plants and damage to transmission lines, the state electric utility said. For several days, blackouts lasting up to six hours have plagued Havana and some areas in Matanzas and other provinces during both daylight hours and at night. The damage was caused by the severe weather that has affected different parts of the island, the utility said. The current blackouts are similar to those experienced at the end of last year, when there were outages lasting an average of 10 hours a day after a major breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras plant. (EFE, 2/6/05)
June 7: Cuba is experiencing a shortage of electricity, with blackouts this summer expected to average six hours daily, despite Fidel Castro's pledge to improve the nation's power supply. Recent severe weather caused breakdowns in power plants and damage to transmission lines that affected Havana and other parts of Cuba for several days, state-owned Electric Union of Cuba, or UE, said this month. UE also warned that blackouts could last on average six hours daily. "I do not truly believe that we are going to recover -- even with the capital maintenance that we are carrying out," said Yadira Garcia, Cuban minister of basic industry, late last month. "These plants date back to the 1980s and 1970s. We are still having problems financing the maintenance". "The technology for these plants, some of which are Soviet and Czech, is really no longer manufactured by the factories that produced certain parts," the minister said. The blackouts are similar to those experienced at the end of 2004, when outages lasted an average of 10 hours daily. Cuban Basic Industry Minister Marcos Portal was dismissed after those outages. (UPI, 7/6/05)
June 21: Persistent electricity shortages, which last year cost a government minister his job and forced enterprises to curtail working hours or close altogether, augur an even-hotter-than-usual summer for this Caribbean island nation. Power outages increased in May due to breakdowns in supply lines and several power plants, though not to the level of last year, when blackouts lasted an average of 10 hours a day. Though the official press regularly publishes lists of scheduled outages - some as long as seven hours - in different urban areas, reality fails to conform to the notices, and blackouts often take the population by surprise. The blackouts not only strike private homes, but also businesses, shops and some health centers, which are in the dark for hours. The Cuban Electric Union says service should improve in the latter half of the year, as plants are repaired and 17,000 kilometers (10,500 miles) of cable and 43,000 lampposts are replaced or restored. Even if the power supply were stabilized, it could not meet the island's growing demand, especially in the summer, when electricity consumption goes up 15-20 percent, experts say. (EFE, 21/6/05)
June 26: Repairs are taking longer than expected at Cuba's Felton theremoelectric plant - the country's largest - and the resulting widespread blackouts are inconveniencing residents in Havana and at other locations on the Communist-ruled island. The oil-powered plant, located in the eastern province of Holguin, is undergoing major repairs to one of its power generation units with the aim of achieving greater efficiency in the consumption of petroleum, the official AIN news agency reported. Initially, authorities had planned for the repairs to the steam generation mechanism to take about 60 days, but once the operation was under way other problems were found in the electric generator, forcing more complicated repairs to be undertaken and the time required for the task to be extended. Engineer Eric Kinzan, one of the Felton chiefs, said that the repairs will finally be done about mid-July, and the plant will be operating at full capacity and can then be reintegrated into the National Electricity Generation System. For several weeks, the blackouts have been gradually getting longer and now amount to five or six hours per day - or night - in the capital and the central province of Matanzas. (EFE, 26/6/05)
July 5: After two months of almost daily blackouts, Cuban authorities announced that the trouble would drag on for weeks -- at least until the end of July -- in the middle of Cuba's sweltering summer. "There is still a great deal of risk; there are a lot of limitations and there are still warning signs we can identify at all (power-generating) plants," Basic Industry Minister Yadira García said on state television. García, a member of the Cuban Communist Party's politburo, last October replaced then minister Marcos Portal amid a prolonged energy crisis that Fidel Castro said revealed that the national power system was "weak." (AFP, 5/7/05)
July 11: Fidel Castro announced that all Cuban cities will soon receive power generators to help address energy challenges facing the island. The power generators are necessary in peak electric hours, said Castro, speaking on a TV news-commentary program spotlighting damage to the nation's energy producing capacity inflicted by the recent passage of hurricane Dennis. Castro noted that the power equipment is of high quality, automated and must be used only in "the most urgent circumstances" and in an "organized way". (AIN, 11/7/05)
July 18: The Cuban power system, brought down by powerful hurricane Dennis, was reconnected after 15 days of intense work, local TV informed. The power plant increased its generation capacity to 300 megawatts. (Prensa Latina, 18/7/05)
July 26: Cuba stopped importing incandescent light bulbs, according to a Foreign Trade Ministry (MINCEX) regulation published in the Official Gazette. The MINCEX resolution 190 of 2005 says that "in order to contribute to Cuba's energy/saving policy, it is considered sensible to cancel imports" of these products. They are "incandescent lamps and tubes, except ultra-violet or infrared rays, others of lower electricity consumption or equal to 200 watts that use an over-100-volt tension." On April 21, Fidel Castro publicly announced the official decision to eliminate incandescent light bulbs in Cuba to replace them with others of lower power consumption. (Prensa Latina, 26/7/05)
July 26: Fidel Castro said his government was revolutionizing Cuba's aging electrical system, asking a nation weary of recent breakdowns to be patient while his government works to fix the problems. ''We will overcome. Have a little bit of faith,'' the Cuban leader said in an address of nearly four hours marking the 52nd anniversary of his revolution. (AP, AIN, 27/7/05)
August 4: Hard-pressed Cubans already suffering through frequent and long interruptions in the flow of electricity saw the problem worsen when Antonio Guiteras, one of the nation's largest plants, broke down. In a communique, state-owned Union Electrica explained that the pipeline feeding fuel into the plant's boiler was damaged. Problems in the power network are prompting blackouts of up to 10 hours a day in Havana and other cities around the country. (EFE, 4/8/05)
August 8: The number one unit of the Cuban thermoelectric plant "Lidio Ramón Pérez" in the northeastern town of Felton, Holguín, is now stabilized and assimilated into the national grid. Block 1 was incorporated to the national grid, but had to be withdrawn for adjustments to be made, and was incorporated again. The reincorporation of this power plant represents an improvement in the generation capacity of electric power for the country, because of its capacity to supply 500 Mw with its two blocks. (Prensa Latina, 8/8/05)
September 1: Fidel Castro highlighted the importance of saving fuel, in moments in which oil prices are still increasing in the international market. Castro spoke during the 5th ordinary session period of the 6th legislature of the National Assembly of People's Power (Parliament). He pointed out in his intervention that no one in the world is sure oil prices will be reduced in any way. "Few countries will be able to pay if oil reaches 150 dollars a barrel," he added. "Maybe US and Europe may buy it, but the Third World countries would only have the chance to devour one to each other." He said that Cuba is not one of the countries with a worse situation, and compared the island with other nations with lower economic resources, such as Haiti. (Prensa Latina, 1/9/05)
September 9: The OPEC Fund for International Development signed a US$10 million loan agreement with Cuba to co-finance the modernization and expansion of the electricity network in Havana. The aim of the project is to improve the quality and efficiency of service delivery, with a view to boosting the country's socio-economic development. Under the project, Havana's high voltage transmission system and medium and low-voltage distribution network will be fully rehabilitated through the repair and construction of substations and power lines. Other works will include the installation of lightning protector cables and modernization of the underground networks in Havana's historic district. Meters, power lines and other equipment connecting the distribution network to approximately 435,000 households, as well as major industrial and commercial premises, will be completely upgraded. Public safety will be enhanced by installing new street-lights and repairing existing ones. (OPEC Fund for International Development Press Release, 11/9/05)
September 11: Iran will export electrical equipment worth five million dollars to Cuba. The agreement to export the equipment is in its final stages. The Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) is to finance the contract. (MNA, 11/9/05)
September 21: Preliminary reports said that Hurricane Rita severely affected the electricity service in the western Cuban provinces of Matanzas, Havana, and the City of Havana. Over 157 electric lines, out of 515, were damaged, as well as water and gas services. International flights were suspended, and schools were closed. Over 230,000 persons were evacuated. No deaths were reported. (AIN, 21/8/05)
September 28: Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, said it has won a US$330 million order for electric power generators from Cuba. "Hyundai Heavy is to deliver 244 packaged power generators with a combined capacity of 510 megawatts to Cuban authorities in charge of electricity by the end of 2007," a Hyundai official said. (Yonhap News, 28/9/05)
September 28: Cuba continues to be plagued by an energy crisis and blackouts, despite major investments to modernize a service that now extends to nearly 96 percent of the country's 11.2 million inhabitants. An increase in domestic production and an agreement with Venezuela to import oil under highly favorable terms have brought an end to the severe shortages of the mid-1990s, which led to an abrupt plunge in Cuba's power-generation capacity. Nevertheless, the National Electric Power System (SEN) is still not able to maintain a stable supply of electricity, due to repeated breakdowns in its main thermoelectric power stations. (IPS, 28/9/05)
October 17: The maintenance activities at one of the main electricity generating stations in Cuba that have led to long power blackouts in some parts of the country will continue for some more days, the government said. After a summer marked by frequent and lengthy blackouts, Cubans got a respite in September, but the blackouts have been reinstituted for several hours each day in various cities, including Havana. The Cuban Electrical Union attributed the new outages to supply limitations at the Antonio Guiteras electricity plant, one of the country's most important power stations, which is undergoing maintenance. (EFE, 17/10/05)
November 3: Repeated equipment failure in two key power plants in Cuba is the cause of increased power outages affecting the population, announced the Electrical Union, the national power company. With one of the thermoelectric power plants undergoing maintenance and generators unexpectedly going off-line at the Felton plant, "power supply to the population is being affected significantly," representatives from the Union told the press. (EFE, 3/11/05)
November 23: A decree signed by Fidel Castro increased the cost of electricity for small consumers from 20 to 30 cents of a Cuban peso ($0.01) per kilowatt-hour (kwh). Cubans who consume more than 300 kwh a month will see their rate rise from 30 centavos (cents) to 1.30 pesos ($0.06) next month. "The lack of concern about electrical consumption is evident in our country due to the very low rates," the decree published in the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma said. Power outages are frequent in Cuba whose thermoelectric generators built decades ago are obsolete and do not produce enough electricity to meet demand at peak consumption. Castro warned that rates would have to go up in a speech in which he attacked private businesses, such as family restaurants, for benefiting from subsidized electricity and using up too much power. Foreign companies, which pay a higher rate and will not be affected by the new increase, praised the move as realistic. "It's a step in the right direction, to get people who can afford it to pay for electricity, as opposed to everybody not having any," said a foreign company executive. "They cannot afford to subsidize everybody, and the fact is that everybody was getting very little electricity," she said. (CNN, 23/11/05)
November 30: South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, said it has clinched a US$ 130 million order from Cuba to install diesel power generators on the island. Hyundai said it plans to complete installation of diesel power generators across the nation by the end of 2007 to meet the dispersed generation plan of the Cuban government. (Yonhap, 30/11/05)
December 2: Fidel Castro recognized the critical situation of the country's power generation network and promised that the service would improve soon with the operation of generators and the application of conservation measures. The government plans to make up for the shortfalls of power plants with the installation of hundreds of electrical generators in the whole country. In reference to the rationing card, Castro said that there is still no date for its elimination. (EFE, 2/12/05)
December 28: Cuba will complete, by mid-2006, the installation of 80 percent of new generation capacities, a modern system backed up by emergency plants in vital locations, all of them with much more fuel-saving equipment. This achievement will quadruple power generation making all provinces independent by connecting thousands of synchronized generators. This network is designed to eliminate interruptions due to generation deficit. The old power plants will be replaced by modern combined-cycle plants, which will use gas derived from oil production. Fidel Castro said that the whole project will save the country nearly $1 billion in convertible currency, compared to current costs of production. (Prensa Latina, 28/12/05)

Jan. 2006

January 2: Fidel Castro heralded 2006 as the "year of the energy revolution", although he has yet to provide details of his energy revolution. Several pointers have been given, including an increase in exploration for and production of crude oil. Spanish-Argentinian oil company Repsol YPF has said that it intended to make another effort in 2006 to make a commercial find in Cuban territorial deep waters. A year ago, Canadian companies Sherritt and Pebercan reported the discovery of a 100-mil bbl deposit of crude oil in shallow waters off northern Cuba. Sherritt is responsible for much of Cuba's current 67,000 b/d production of crude--all of it very heavy--which is about four times what the country produced a decade ago but well short of consumption of about 211,000 b/d, much of it now supplied by Venezuela. Other elements that Castro has indicated would be part of his energy revolution are the closing of power plants that date from the Soviet era and construction of new ones to run on gas produced in association with crude oil. Punitive tariffs are also to be imposed on large volume domestic consumers of electricity so as to cut back sharply on demand in an effort to eliminate the blackouts that have plagued Cubans for years and whose increased frequency led in 2004 to very rare--if limited--outbreaks of public protest. (Platts Commodity News, 2/1/06)
January 6: Venezuela plans to keep oil sales to Cuba steady at roughly 90,000 barrels a day this year because the island has discovered petroleum of its own, Venezuela's oil minister said. "We expect to keep that level of sales unchanged given that Cuba is discovering more oil and that's a good thing," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, increased oil sales to communist-led Cuba to 90,000 barrels a day last year, up from roughly 53,000 barrels during previous years. (Business Week, 6/1/06)
January 9: Cuba has received 12 locomotives and 80 buses from China as part of a government plan to improve the communist island's transportation service, the official daily Granma reported. The 2,500 horse power, DF7G-C diesel-electric locomotives arrived in Havana's port over in a 15 million dollar deal with the Asian giant, Granma said. It was the first time China exported locomotives to Latin America. The Chinese buses join pressure cookers, light bulbs, refrigerators, TVs and bikes in the deluge of Chinese products flooding Cuba. From exporting appliances to investments in Cuba's nickel and oil, China is becoming a big player on the island — its second-largest trade partner as of September, up from fourth place in 2004, according to Cuba. (AFP, The Seattle Times, 9/1/06)
January 15: China became Cuba's second-largest trading partner after Venezuela in 2005, but Chinese companies worry about collecting payment for their increasing sales of durable goods to the island, a Chinese diplomat said. A $500-million (US) Chinese investment in Cuba's nickel industry, announced more than a year ago, is still under negotiation, China's commercial counsellor in Havana, Yang Shidi, said. China's growing influence on the Cuban economy is evident on the streets and in the shops, where Chinese goods such as toys, clothes and sports equipment have replaced imports from other countries. Spanking new air-conditioned buses made by China's Yutong Bus Co. Ltd., the first of 1,000 sold to Cuba, make a sharp contrast with the vintage American cars still motoring along Cuban streets. China is selling Cuba television sets, electric cookers, rice steamers and light bulbs. Cuba wants to buy one million Chinese refrigerators as part of its energy-saving plan to replace decades-old household appliances. Twelve diesel locomotives arrived by ship from China a week ago to upgrade Cuba's railway system. "Two-way trade has reached record levels and we hope it will continue to expand steadily," Mr. Yang said. The sales to Cuba are financed with millions of dollars in credits extended largely by the exporting companies themselves, Mr. Yang said. "China is a market economy and the companies take their own decisions and risks (...) The worry the companies have is how they will get paid for the growing sales," he said. (Reuters, 16/1/06)
January 15: Fidel Castro thanked China for new locomotives and buses that will help improve local transportation on the island, emphasizing the increasingly close ties between the two countries. Castro said the locomotives are a symbol of friendship between Cuba and China, adding that China has become the "principal locomotive" of economic development in the world, according to Cuba's Communist Party daily Granma. The arrival of the 12 new locomotives and the 80 buses purchased from China was reported by Cuban media. Of those buses, about 300 will be used for tourism and transport of construction workers, students and social workers from one province to another, Castro said. The remaining 700 will be for inter-province travel for the general population. Castro said that it had been impossible to devote money to the island's railway system during the 1990s, but that dramatic improvement in the Cuban economy allowed for the recent purchase of the Chinese equipment. The Cuban leader said the Chinese locomotives were superior to those manufactured in the United States and much more affordable. Each Chinese locomotive cost 37 percent of what a similar one from the United States would have cost, Castro said. Castro pointed out some "malicious concerns" of international press agencies over China's trade relations with Cuba, aimed at distorting the increasing presence of Chinese products in the national market. (AP, Prensa Latina, 15/1/06)
January 17: Fidel Castro unveiled a network of small power generators in Pinar del Rio province, the first step in a vast plan to overhaul Cuba's inadequate electricity system and end chronic outages. "The new system has been installed (...) Pinar del Rio will not have power outages again," Castro said in a speech in the capital of the western-most province, the first to be equipped. The new strategy is part of an ambitious plan that also calls for replacing millions of inefficient electric stoves, refrigerators and other household appliances, some of them made in the United States and in use since before Castro's 1959 revolution. Cuba has bought generators from Spain's Grupo Guascor for 100 million euros ($120 million). It has contracted 4,158 generators with a combined capacity of 712 megawatts, Castro said. Last year it ordered 344 diesel generators from Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., South Korea's largest shipbuilder, in two contracts worth $460 million for delivery by the end of 2007. In another effort to save energy, Cuba's communist government raised heavily subsidized electricity rates by as much as 333 percent in December. [Fidel Castro's speech] (Reuters, 17/1/06)
January 19: A blackout that paralyzed most of Havana for barely 24 hours, made Fidel Castro cancel a TV broadcast where he was supposed to talk about the electricity crisis that the island has been experiencing since last year. Two days before, the Cuban leader announced an "energy revolution" in Cuba at the inauguration of the first emergency power generation project in Pinar del Rio. Cuban official media published a brief note explaining the cancellation of Castro's attendance to the official TV program "The Round Table". (AFP, La Jornada, 19/1/06)
January 20: Fidel Castro underscored the value of the energy revolution underway in Cuba during the official TV show "The Round Table". In an address broadcast on nationwide radio and television, the Cuban leader gave a detailed explanation of the government's strategy to increase power generation efficiency while steadily reducing the costs. "Thermoelectric plants are prehistoric," he said. As an example he cited the difficulties that surrounded the construction and start-up of the Antonio Guiteras plant located in the western province of Matanzas. The plant costs approximately 100 million dollars a year to keep operating. Castro recalled the serious failures at the huge power plant during 2004, noting that it went off the power grid 22 times. Castro reassured the people that by May 1, all Cuban families that receive electricity services—over 95 percent of the population—will no longer use kerosene or liquid gas to cook. "We will keep that promise," said Castro. (Periódico 26, 20/1/06)
January 21: Fidel Castro called on Cubans to conserve electricity as part of his government's new program to cut energy spending by $1 billion a year. Castro took to the airwaves for a second consecutive day, using a roundtable television show to discuss the island's energy situation. "We cannot falter in this. At this time, the main task is to save energy," Castro said. During his more than four-hour appearance on national television, the Cuban leader said his "energy revolution" program, slated to take effect May 1, would focus on replacing old generators at power plants and introducing more energy-efficient domestic appliances in Cuba. Castro also discussed the blackout that paralyzed most of Havana, barely 24 hours after he inaugurated the first emergency power generation project in Pinar del Rio, where he announced plans for an "intensive research project and the development of the use of wind and solar power." The government's new energy plan envisions a 60 percent increase in the Cuban thermo-electric power system's 2.94 million kilowatts per hour of generating capacity. Most of the island's electricity is currently generated with obsolete technology that had been provided by the former Soviet Union. (AFP, 22/1/06)
January 30: Cuba is planning to take advantage of current high sugar prices in the world market with an increase of its sugar production of over 1,3 million tonnes for 2006. "They are planting 150,000 acres (60,705 hectares) in an intensive way, and for the first time in years buying appropriate amounts of fertilizers and herbicides", a source said. "The Sugar Ministry announced that the process of reducing the number of sugar mills is over and are planning to use at least 70 sugar factories for 2007," the source added. (Reuters, 30/1/06)

Feb. 2006

February 2: US oil executives and government representatives met with Cuban officials to get a firsthand idea of the oil and gas potential of that country's offshore, in spite of a 45-year-old US embargo. The three-day meeting in Mexico City is aimed at building awareness in the US of the energy potential of Cuba, in case of an eventual softening of the embargo. "For the first time Cuba has something the US needs (...) We can do without rum and cigars but the US needs new sources of oil," said Kirby Jones, president of consulting firm Alamar Associates, which is organizing the meeting. (International Oil Daily, 2/2/06)
February 3: Cuban Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia toured Havana Province to check on the national energy program. In visits to San Nicolas de Bari, Nueva Paz, Madruga and Santa Cruz del Norte municipalities Garcia voiced satisfaction with the quality of the power generators installed there. The new sets will contribute 280 mw to the National Energy System, the minister was quoted as saying by Granma daily. (Prensa Latina, 3/2/06)
February 4: In a move that could change the course of international diplomacy towards Iran, the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency approved a resolution to report the country's nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council. Cuba, Syria and Venezuela voted against the resolution. (The New York Times, 4/2/06)
February 4: A meeting between Cuban officials and US energy executives was moved to another hotel after the Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City, under pressure from the US government, asked the Cubans to leave, the event's organizer said. Kirby Jones, president of the US-Cuba Trade Association, said the US government called Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., and pressured the chain to ask the Cubans to leave, arguing that the US company was violating a 45-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba. Sheraton Hotel officials in Mexico City declined to comment. The meeting was the first private-sector oil summit between the two countries. It resumed at the Colon Mission Reforma Hotel. (AP, 5/2/06)
February 7: Mexico issued a complaint against an American-owned hotel that -- under pressure from the US government -- expelled a group of Cuban businessmen meeting with US energy executives, saying the company violated investment and trade protection laws. Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said the Mexican government is considering a diplomatic complaint against the United States in the case. He said his department had formally started a complaint process against the Sheraton for violating investment and trade protection laws, and that the hotel would have 15 days to respond. The hotel could face fines of nearly $500,000 (US) or even be shut down, officials said. "I think that there was evident contempt for Mexican law on the part of the Hotel Maria Isabel Sheraton (…) and it is going to be punished for discrimination, consumer fraud and, moreover, for applying laws that do not apply in Mexico," Mr. Derbez told reporters in London, where he is on an official visit. A Mexican diplomat is currently in Washington to find out how it all occurred, and "he will bring back information so that we can decide if it will be necessary or not to present a complaint with the US government, Derbez said. Three Mexican agencies -- the Mexico City government, the federal consumer protection office and the national commission against discrimination -- will look into the incident, said Rubén Aguilar, spokesman for President Vicente Fox. Mexico ''will certainly not tolerate any discrimination against any person visiting Mexico,'' he said. Other officials said the Sheraton María Isabel hotel in the heart of the Mexican capital could be fined or even shut. (The Globe and Mail, AP, The Miami Herald, 8/2/06)
February 12: Fidel Castro met with visiting Chinese State Councillor Chen Zhili, at the Chinese embassy in Havana. Castro said the rapid economic development of China has become one of the engines behind the growth of world economy. He also spoke highly of the "putting people first" governance philosophy upheld by the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government and the "scientific concept of development". On Cuba's domestic situation, Castro said that in view of the hiking world oil prices, his government has placed high priority on energy conservation in the country's economic work. Cuba is ready to cooperate with China in this field, he added. (Xinhua, 13/2/06)
February 14: Over 88,000 house electrical-system protectors will be installed in the eastern city of Camagüey, in the first half of 2006, as part of the Cuban project to optimize power. The protectors will be used to replace the faulty or inappropriate switches between the public electric supply and houses, according to local-electric-company officials. This measure is part of the Energy Revolution that Cuba is developing and includes the change of switches with an amperage capacity under 32, they said. The program to increase energy efficiency in Cuba also includes installation of thousands of emergency generators connected to the national system, devoted to eradicate power outages due to generation shortage. (Prensa Latina, 14/2/06)
February 15: Completed down to 3 465 metres in the west part of Bloc 7, the Tarara 100 well, operated by Pebercan, was successfully production-tested. The oil quality is similar to that of the Santa Cruz find which is significantly better than Canasi and Seboruco. The well has found a new shallow field different from the conventional objective of Veloz carbonates. The company is running long-term production and pressure tests to assess the extent and quality of this new potential field, which is at the limit of the available seismic data. Depending on the results of these tests, an evaluation program will be prepared to develop this new oil reservoir. However, pending the result of the current surveys and tests, there is still nothing to confirm that the productive structure revealed can have a significant impact on the company's reserves. (Pebercan Press Release, 15/2/06)
February 16: The president of Cuba's National Assembly (Parliament) Ricardo Alarcon warmly welcomed Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Speaker of the Islamic Republic Consultative Assembly of Iran, at Havana´s Jose Marti International Airport. Alarcon offered support to his visiting Iranian counterpart in an escalating international dispute over the Middle Eastern nation's use of nuclear power. "No one has the right to monopolize any source of energy fundamental for humanity," Alarcon said at the start of a meeting with Gholam Ali Haddad Adel. Led by the United States, some countries and international organizations are voicing concerns that Iran is using its nuclear power program to develop weapons of mass destruction -- something Iran denies. Haddad Adel expressed Iran's respect for the Cuban government and people but did not address the debate. Haddad Adel's agenda includes meeting with his Cuban counterpart Ricardo Alarcon, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Vice President Carlos Lage. (Prensa Latina, CNN, 16/2/06)
February 17: During his address at the official ceremony of the delivery of Chinese buses to the island, Fidel Castro highly praised the importance of the collaboration with China in the field of transportation. Castro said that the deal for 800 of the 1,000 buses bought in July prove the remarkable moment Cuba is living. The Cuban leader extolled the Chinese authorities' respect during the negotiations and said that the deal to purchase buses, like the purchase of 12 locomotives last January, were calmly and consciously transacted, in accordance with the practice of meeting financial obligations without the smallest delay. He also referred to a deal with the Chinese firm Yutong for the purchase of 8,000 inter-provincial, municipal, urban, school and tourism buses. (Prensa Latina, 17/2/06)
February 19: Fidel Castro reiterated Cuba's firm support of Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful means during his talks in Havana with Dr. Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, Iranian Parliament president. During the meeting, the Cuban president and the Iranian Parliament president reviewed the state of bilateral relations and stressed common viewpoints in regard to the world state-of-affairs, as well as both countries´ potentials to further expand bilateral economic ties. (AIN, 19/2/06)

March 2006

March 2: Cuba is moving to develop its offshore oil and gas resources, which would result in development closer to Florida's coast than the US government allows, Representative John E. Peterson (Republican-Pennsylvania) warned. "Offshore oil and natural gas drilling, sanctioned by the Cuban government, occurs within 60 miles of Florida's southern borders. Moreover, the drilling potential within the existing Cuban basin is such that oil wells will, in the near future, be as close as 35-40 miles from the Florida keys," he said. The island nation cannot develop its offshore energy resources itself, so it enlisted the help of Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Spanish, Venezuelan, and Norwegian companies, Peterson said. With their help, Cuba has pumped $1.7 billion into its energy industry since 2004, he said at a breakfast sponsored by Dow Chemical Co. and The Hill newspaper. The proposed 5-year Outer Continental Shelf leasing plan being developed by the US Minerals Management Service and a bill before the US Senate would establish a 100-mile oil and gas leasing buffer off Florida's coast. Most of the state's congressional delegation supports another bill that its two US senators, Republican Mel Martinez and Democrat Bill Nelson, introduced on February 1 that would effectively push new offshore exploration 260 miles from Tampa Bay. "Any way you slice it, Cuba, with the help of its foreign enablers, is drilling closer to sovereign American property than we are," Peterson said. (Oil & Gas Journal, 2/3/06)
March 8: The Government of the Republic of Cuba has responded to a request from the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party administration to assist local residents in reducing their electricity bills. Minister of Public Works, Utilities, Transport and Posts, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin said that his formal request to the Fidel Castro Government in Havana to donate energy-saving bulbs to St. Kitts, free of cost, has been positive and will also result in reducing the country's high energy bill. "We approached them (Government of Cuba) with respect to assisting us with compact fluorescent bulbs. These bulbs are energy saving bulbs and they have decided to donate these bulbs to the poor and vulnerable groups in our society free of charge," said Dr. Martin in an exclusive interview with the Communications Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister. (CUOPM, 8/3/06)
March 8: While speaking at the 15th anniversary of the Central Computer and Electronics Palace, Fidel Castro asserted that the island is on solid bases in different fields. "Our people will be surprised about the speed of the Energy Revolution and the economic resources it will provide," Fidel said, noting that energy generation grows at 80,000 kw per week and the battle against power shortages is succeeding. The program, emerging from serious energy problems in 2004, has been constantly analyzed, along with the experience of dealing with hurricanes, and has enabled acquisition of safer and more efficient generators, which are strategically combined with engines. (Prensa Latina, 8/3/06)
March 10: According to official statistics , the European Union-Cuba trade balance grew significantly in 2005, following a 31% increase in EU exports to the island and an increment of 28% in European Community imports from the Caribbean nation. European exports to Cuba last year reached 1,272 million euros (approximately $1,590 million USD) propelled by sales of electrical equipment and optical instruments, as indicated by a report from the Office of the European Commission in Havana. Cuba spent more than 440 million euros ($550 million USD) purchasing generators and electrical machinery from European manufacturers, mainly power generators from German and Spanish companies to alleviate the energy crisis that besets the country. Also, the island invested next to 140 million euros ($175 million USD) in the purchase of European optical instruments, mostly from German companies and destined for the so-called "Operation Miracle." (EFE, 11/3/06)
March 16: Swedish industrial technology group G & L Beijer AB said it was awarded a 1.2 million euro ($1.4 mln) order to deliver dry coolers to a major infrastructure project in Cuba. G & L Beijer won the deal via the collaboration of its subsidiaries, Danish distributor TT-Coil A/S and Swedish heat exchangers manufacturer Asarums Industri AB. The order represents a first sub-order to the project, which has a potential of at least 7.0 million euro ($8.4 mln). Dry coolers conduct away surplus heat from the compressor plant in a cooling system or other industrial processes. They include components such as heat exchangers and fans. (Swedish News Digest, 16/3/06)
March 21: Havana feels that Russia could take part in the exploration and development of oil-bearing fields located in the island's economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eumelio Caballero, announced in Moscow. At the end of his negotiations with the Russian authorities in Moscow, Caballero said that "a favorable climate has been created for possible Russian investments" in the island and added that Cuba "is experiencing an economic boom." (EFECOM, 21/3/06)
March 21: Cuba "protects Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy with appropriate safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)", Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Eumelio Caballero told the press. He stressed that, "Cuba is for peaceful settlement of all international disputes." "Iran is a friendly country, a member of the Non-Aligned Movement," Cabaliero said. "Over these years Tehran came up against countless difficulties and pressure from foreign countries, especially the United States," he said. Washington "tried to impose on Iran economic, political and social models of development alien to its sovereign will," Caballero said. "Cuba is against nuclear weapons proliferation," Caballero stressed. "We firmly stand for general and complete disarmament, including nuclear disarmament." (Itar Tass, 21/3/06)
March 25: New power plants are being installed in Havana to save energy, cut costs and ease chronic summer blackouts, Cuba's state news agency said. Officials from Cuba's Basic Industries Ministry said the new generators will help ensure "optimum quality" in electrical service for the capital's 11.2 million residents, Prensa Latina reported. Havana has historically suffered from outages when demand rises in the hot summer months. The plants are part of the government's Energy Revolution, a nationwide program aimed at ending blackouts by May 1. Cuba has contracted to buy 4,158 of the generators, more than 3,000 of which have already been installed. They form a key part of a plan to replace the island's huge thermoelectric plants -- which consume huge amounts of petroleum -- with smaller, more cost-efficient energy facilities. (AP, Xinhua, 25/3/06)
March 29: Fidel Castro received the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) Executive Secretary Alvaro Rios, who is visiting local power generation centers and other energy related facilities in western Cuba. Castro and Rios, on his first visit to the island nation, discussed the global energy situation and the Latin American and the Caribbean panorama. The statesman explained to the OLADE leader the national energy revolution afoot that guarantees a rational and efficient consumption of fuels, enables a planned and diversified policy of energy production plus a considerable saving of financial resources to use them in other sectors and social programs. Rios hailed Cuban projects and expressed interest in sharing these experiences with other regional nations. (Prensa Latina, 30/3/06)

April 2006

April 4: Cuba is racing to install thousands of container-sized diesel generators across the island to avoid another situation like the one last summer when widespread blackouts fanned popular unrest. Fidel Castro has taken personal responsibility for what he calls an "energy revolution" prompted by widespread complaints about the failings of Cuba's obsolete power plants. His supporters say the first-of-its-kind energy plan is a stroke of audacious genius. His critics see it as a desperate blunder. The generators are being grouped in clusters and connected to the electrical grid so they can feed the national system or operate independently in all 14 provinces. Around $800 million has been spent so far to import generators, mainly from Spain, Germany and South Korea. Castro has promised to put an end to the frequent outages that Cubans have had to live with since the collapse of Soviet communism plunged their country into economic crisis. He has also vowed to provide every Cuban home with new electrical appliances from China that use less power, from stoves and fans to refrigerators, in many cases replacing inefficient US-made products dating back to the 1950s. (Reuters, 4/4/06)
April 4: Fidel Castro said Cuba has bought from China 100 train engines and more than 7,000 buses for delivery this year, as part of his "energy revolution" to save fuel and improve public transport on the communist island. "One hundred train engines (…) We've also signed contracts for 1,000 20-ton trucks," Castro, 79, said at the Karl Marx Theater, on the anniversary of two communist youth organizations. Castro said more than 7,000 buses would be delivered by China this year, and "thousands of passenger railroad cars are being repaired" for future service in Cuba. (AFP, 5/4/06)
April 11: Venezuela and Cuba will invest $800 million to $1 billion to start up an unfinished Soviet-era refinery on the island, the Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, Adan Chavez, said. "The aim is to completely reactivate the Cienfuegos refinery," the envoy, an older brother of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said at a news conference. The initial investment will be approximately between $800 million and $1 billion in shared costs, he said. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA formed a joint venture with Cuba to revamp the unused refinery on the shore of Cienfuegos Bay in south-central Cuba, and signed an agreement guaranteeing Venezuelan feedstock of 70,000 barrels per day. (AFP, Houston Chronicle, 11/4/06)
April 15: In Cuba, windmills have spread rapidly over the past century, mainly in the central province of Camaguey and in the eastern portion of the island. It has been estimated that currently there are 7,000 windmills operating across the island, used mostly to pump water for cattle and agriculture activities. Their efficient use has special importance today, considering that experts estimate that a single windmill used for pumping water can save a half ton of diesel fuel annually. But power generation capacity through the transformation of wind power into electricity has not yet been fully exploited on the island. Currently Cuba is promoting the use of windmills for that purpose. In this respect, studies to measure the intensity and frequencies of the winds that blow over different parts of the island are being finalized. (Periódico 26, 15/4/06)
April 17: Cuba is able to start exporting hydrocarbons to the Caribbean countries, under the agreement for the establishment of a joint oil refining company PDV-Cupet SA with Venezuela's state-owned oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the Venezuelan press reported on April 17, 2006. Cuba's state-owned monopoly Cuba Petroleo and PDVSA established at the beginning of April 2006 PDV-Cupet S.A. in which Cuba holds the majority stake. The project will revive Cuba's refinery Cienfuegos which was paralysed in 1991. PDV-Cupet will receive some 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd). The company has the opportunity to export fuels mainly to the Caribbean countries. The agreement for the establishment of PDV-Cupet SA was signed by Fidel Castro and Venezuelan Energy and Petroleum Minister and PDVSA President, Rafael Ramirez. (Latin America News Digest, 17/4/06)
April 17: Venezuela's plans to refurbish an idled Soviet-era refinery in Cuba represent a lost investment for this oil-rich South American nation, a former president of the state-run oil company said. The Cuban government and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, announced an agreement for PDVSA to invest US$83 million (euro69 million) to rehabilitate the facility in the southern coastal city of Cienfuegos to refine, store and distribute crude oil. But former PDVSA president Guaicaipuro Lameda criticized the deal, saying the refinery is too old to run profitably and too many of its Russian-made parts would have to be replaced. "Making an investment to make that refinery function doesn't permit recovering the investment," said Lameda, who resigned in 2002 and quickly became one of the government's most outspoken critics. Lameda accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of investing in the aging refinery as a means of giving economic support to his close ally, Fidel Castro. (AP, 17/4/06)
April 19: The state corporation Oils of Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) expects to cut the shipments of crude oil to Cuba when the Cuban refinery of Cienfuegos starts operating, said the president of the company and minister of Energy, Rafael Ramírez. Ramírez supported PDVSA's decision to take part in the reopening of the Cienfuegos refinery pointing out that a study by an international company revealed that an investment of $83 million dollars by the Venezuelan government in the Cuban plant would yield a return of 28 %. (AP, 20/4/06)
April 19: President-elect, René Préval, announced Haiti will join Petrocaribe and will accept Cuba's help to confront the energy crisis in his country. ''During our meetings in Havana, we discussed this matter with the Venezuelan ambassador to Havana, Adán Chávez, who is Hugo Chavez' brother", Preval said. He also announced that, "Cuban technicians will be sent to Haiti to help us with the lack of electric power", he added. (El Universal, 19/4/06)
April 19: Fidel Castro defended Iran's nuclear program and warned that a military aggression by the United States against that country could trigger "a world war, which no one could prevent", affirmed Castro during an event marking the victory of his troops in Playa Girón 45 years ago. "How can they (the United States) threaten Iran because it wants to produce nuclear energy? There is no doubt that they would be making a mistake with Iran", said Castro before some 3,000 veterans, armed forces officers, students and diplomats who attended the event at the Karl Marx theatre in Havana. (AFP, 20/4/06)
April 26: Iran and Cuba have signed an agreement wherein the Islamic republic will help Havana modernize its oil industry. The deal, signed by Iran's Agricultural Jihad Minister Mohammad Eskandari and Cuba State Minister Ricardo Cabrisas, in Tehran, came as part of an economic cooperation agreement at the end of Iran-Cuba joint 11th Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Commission. Among other things, the two sides agreed to cooperate in building and modernizing refineries and in oil exploration activities. Cabrisas called the meeting a "success." (UPI, 26/4/06)
April 26: President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela will shortly begin shipping fuel to Nicaragua in his government's latest preferential oil pact as it uses its vast resources to expand its influence in the region. A group of 51 Nicaraguan mayors, many from the leftist Sandinista party including presidential candidate Daniel Ortega, met with Chavez at the presidential palace as the terms of the accord were announced to supply 10 million barrels a year of fuel to their communities. "A boat will arrive soon. There are alternatives,'' Chavez told the group, characterizing the deal as part of a budding effort to expand a Venezuela-Cuba pact for trade and social programs, known as ALBA. (AP, 26/4/06) 
April 26: Because of current US policy, US companies are prohibited from developing oil fields that lie in Cuban waters and come within 50 miles of Florida. However, Cuba is exploring and potentially developing these oil fields, estimated by the US Geological Survey to possess more oil than the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, and Cuba is partnering with China and other countries, such as Spain, France, and Canada. Senator Larry Craig, Republican-Idaho, took the opportunity to raise this issue during a speech on the floor of the United States Senate. Craig stated, "I must point out that it is certainly ironic that the same people blocking the American public from obtaining resources in our own country, and in the region, are the same people not offering solutions to our growing demand."Red China should not be left to drill for oil within spitting distance of our shores without competition from US industries. Not only is this a supply and energy security issue for us, it is an environmental issue. China has a dismal environmental record fraught with cover-up and blatant disregard for its own people". (US Fed News, 26/4/06)
April 28: US Senator Bill Nelson announced legislation to keep Cuba from oil drilling in the waters between the Caribbean island nation and the Florida Keys. The Democratic senator's bill would block the renewal of a 1977 international agreement allowing Cuba to conduct commercial activity near the Keys -- unless Cuba would agree not to put oil rigs in the Florida Straits close to the low-lying island chain off Florida's southern tip. "At risk are the Florida Keys and the state's tourism economy, not to mention the $8 billion that Congress is investing to restore the Everglades,'' Nelson in a statement. The 1977 Maritime Boundary Agreement dividing control of the 90 miles of sea between Cuba and the Keys must be renewed every two years, and was last renewed in 2004. Nelson's legislation would also deny visas to executives of foreign oil companies who continue drilling off Cuba's northern coast. (Sun Sentinel, 28/4/06)

May 2006

May 5: With efforts to open Florida's coast to energy exploration gaining momentum, more Florida lawmakers are turning their sights south, filing legislation aimed at blocking Cuba from drilling for oil near the Florida Keys. US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican, and 14 other House members -- 11 of them from Florida -- joined in introducing a bill that would deny visas to any employees of a company or entity that "contributes to the development of Cuba's oil-exploration program." Their bill, a companion to Florida Democratic Senator Nelson's Senate bill filed earlier, would also impose sanctions on any individuals -- or companies -- who invest $1 million or more to help Cuba develop its oil and natural gas resources. "My colleagues and I have been working tirelessly to prevent our own companies from ruining Florida's pristine beaches and delicate ecosystem by exploring and drilling for oil off our coast," Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. "To now have this murderous and totalitarian regime say it wants to drill just 45 miles from Key West is beyond the pale and totally unacceptable." Her co-sponsors include US Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Díaz-Balart, both Miami Republicans; Clay Shaw, Republican-Fort Lauderdale; Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat-Weston, and Mark Foley, Republican-Palm Beach County; Katherine Harris, a Senate candidate, and Jim Davis, a Democratic candidate for governor. (The Miami Herald, 6/5/06)
May 6: Fidel Castro handed over the keys of vehicles to two electrical workers representing 101 technicians from Havana's electricity works. The new Chinese-manufactured motor vehicles will be used in the upgrading of the national electric grid. This was the first consignment of specialized vehicles which will replace the old fleet of gas guzzling Zil 130 and 131, GAZ and KAMAZ trucks. The Cuban leader explained that though the primary purpose of the vehicles was to conserve electrical power, the new more efficient vehicles will also contribute to fuel savings. Castro described these improvements as being vital for humanity, at a time when the planet is burning 84 million barrels of oil daily —with the United States squandering 22 million of that sum— while potential and proven world reserves have begun to shrink. (Granma, 5/5/06)
May 9: Cuba has struck a deal with Spanish, Norwegian and Indian oil companies to drill in the mile-deep (1.6-km) waters of the Gulf of Mexico, industry sources and diplomats said. The possibility of striking oil in Cuban waters just 90 miles (120 km) off US shores at a time of soaring fuel prices and rising global demand has set off a political debate over whether US companies, sidelined by American sanctions, should be allowed to explore there. Contracts will be signed May 23 in Havana between Spanish major Repsol YPF, Norway's Norsk Hydro and ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp., they said. Drilling will most likely not begin until 2008 due to a tight market for deep-sea exploration rigs as the world's search for oil intensifies under pressure from the high prices, one industry official said. Repsol found good-quality light oil in Cuba's economic exclusion zone of the Gulf of Mexico in 2004, but not in commercially viable quantities. (Reuters, 9/5/06)
May 9: Cuba successfully drilled a sloped well more than five kilometers in length from the coast out to sea and proclaimed it a commercial success as it will produce 200 tons of crude oil daily. The Canadian company Sherrit Oil and Gas International and the state-owned oil company Cuba Oil concluded the joint venture's largest project to date, announced Granma newspaper. (AP, 9/5/06)
May 11: Attempting to use gas price frustration to crack a Cold War-era ban on US trade with Cuba, Idaho Senator Larry Craig wants to allow American companies to sign deals with the Caribbean island nation to explore and develop oil deposits in its waters. "It's time America began to understand that our (...) prohibition on trade with Cuba has accomplished just about zero and that policy needs to be changed," Craig said in a telephone interview before introducing legislation to permit US oil drilling deals with Cuba. "China, as we speak, has a drilling rig off the coast of Cuba." US companies are prohibited from doing business with Cuba under the 45-year-old embargo imposed after Fidel Castro came into power and the US cut off all diplomatic relations with the country. But since the discovery of oil deposits off its northern coast two years ago, Cuba has signed drilling deals with companies from Canada, China, India and Norway. In February, Cuban officials told US oil executives at a meeting in Mexico they want to double their drilling capacity and explore for more oil offshore. (AP, 11/5/06)  
May 13: Venezuelan Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, has joined the hunt for oil in Cuba that has already attracted companies from Canada, Europe, China and India to the communist-ruled island, the government in Havana said. In a statement published in the internet edition of the Communist Party daily Granma, the Cuban government said that state-owned PDVSA had signed an accord with its counterpart, Cuba Petroleo, or Cupet, for exploration and production "in the short and medium term". PDVSA is already heavily involved in downstream activities in Cuba. The government statement said the new accord followed a two-day meeting in Havana of senior PDVSA and Cupet officials. (Platts Commodity News, 14/5/06)
May 22: Venezuela's crude sales to Fidel Castro's Cuba stand at 98,000 barrels a day, the Venezuelan oil minister said. "They stand at 98,000 b/d and they should remain there this year," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters. The figure is slightly higher than the 90,000 barrels a day announced in early January, and an indication that Venezuela's economic ties with the island nation continue to strengthen. Oil sales to Cuba increased to 90,000 b/d last year, sometimes reaching 92,000 b/d in some months, according to government estimates. (Dow Jones, 23/5/06)
May 23: Spanish oil company Repsol YPF teamed up with Norway's Norsk Hydro and India's ONGC Videsh to explore six offshore blocks in Cuban waters where good-quality oil was found two years ago, the companies said. The prospect of finding commercial quantities of oil in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico at a time of soaring prices has set off a political debate over whether US companies, sidelined by American sanctions against Cuba, should be allowed to explore there. Under the deal signed with Cuba's state-owned Cuba Petroleo (Cupet), operator Repsol will have a 40-percent share in the project, while Norsk Hydro and ONGC Videsh will each have 30 percent. Exploration plans include 1,158 square miles (3,000 sq km) of three-dimensional seismic studies to be completed in June, said Egil Gloppen, Hydro Oil & Energy international business development director. But drilling is not expected to begin until 2008 due to a tight market for deep-water exploration rigs as the world's search for oil intensifies to take advantage of tight demand and high prices for crude. (Reuters, 23/5/06)
May 24: Cuba reiterated its invitation to US companies interested in participating in oil drillings in the Gulf of Mexico. "Yes, we have authorized those explorations, we are not excluding US companies". "We say it publicly", Fidel Castro said during a TV appearance. (AFP, 25/5/06)
May 25: Sherritt International Corp. held its annual meeting in Toronto. The bulk of Sherritt's businesses are based in Cuba, where it has nickel and cobalt mining operations, oil and gas production facilities, and an electricity-generating operation using natural gas. The importance of the Cuban assets was reflected by the fact that two ministers from the Cuban government flew to Toronto to attend the Sherritt annual meeting. (Globe & Mail, 26/5/06)

June 2006

June 4: Angola's Oil Minister Desiderio Costa, expressed in Havana the possibility of the Southern African country to cooperate with Cuba in the field of oil. The Angolan official, who expressed this intent in the ambit of a working visit he carried to the Latin American country, stressed that Angola has conditions to cooperate with Cuba in this area. "We are willing to share our experience in the field of oil acquired during the past 30 years. Angola is Sub-Saharan Africa’s second biggest oil producer after Nigeria. (Angola Press, 4/6/06)
June 4: Fidel Castro said that socialism means rationality, as well as the opportunity to do things efficiently and he called for the application of that concept in all production and service activities. Castro presided over a third session of a meeting of provincial and municipal government officials, which took place at Havana´s Convention Hall. Fidel referred to ongoing efforts in the country aimed at saving energy and improving the people’s quality of life. Castro said that by making use of efficient work the country can save much of the electricity it is currently consuming, which would translate into noticeable saving, bearing in mind the high price of oil at the world market. Fidel stressed the positive results of the meeting, in which local government officials exchanged views on the advancement of the national energy program or Cuban Energy Revolution, the fight against dengue, the progress of urban agriculture and the commercialization of agricultural products at local marketplaces, as well as the advancement of national social programs undertaken by the Cuban revolution under the so called Battle of Ideas. (ACN, 5/6/06)
June 6: Cuba seeks to increase commercial relations with Brazil, particularly transference of technology in the alternative fuels sector, said a business source. Brazilian sugar-cane producer, Aecio Marcondes, indicated that "last May Cuban officials visited (their) plants". (Notimex, 6/6/06)
June 7: Venezuela has agreed to share technology with Cuba for oil exploration, production and refining, Venezuela's state oil company said. Intevep, the research arm of state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, signed the agreement, which includes projects to increase Cuban oil production, improve the quality of its fuels and optimize its refineries, a company statement said. Intevep will work with Cuba's Ceinpet petroleum research center. (AP, 7/6/06)
June 10: Details about the ongoing expansion program of the Cuban nickel industry in the eastern part of the island were presented by the Minister of Basic Industry, Yadira Garcia, as part of a series of parliamentary committees taking place in preparation for the opening of Parliament. The minister explained how the government has been able to sustainably develop this industry by means of mixed capital enterprises where foreign capital provides management experience and technology, while Cuba maintains total control over production. The expansion project is being undertaken with a primary focus on new energy-efficient technologies that will allow Cuba to produce 80,000 tons of nickel in a first phase, using three industrial plants, which will later be expanded to 100,000 tons when a fourth plant begins operations. These new fuel-efficient technologies will enable the industry to eliminate the use of electricity, providing a boost to the national power grid, said the minister. Garcia also mapped out additional perspectives such as the production of Cobalt, a byproduct of the nickel industry. Cobalt is currently trading at $US 33,000 per ton, and Cuba holds 20 percent of the world's cobalt reserves. (Granma, 11/6/06)
June 12: The Cuban government cut off electricity to the US diplomatic mission in Havana a week ago, and US requests for power to be restored have gone unanswered, the US State Department said. The facility has been operating with generator power. Work at the mission continues, including interviews of refugees and outreach programs for the Cuban people, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "I would just say that the bullying tactics of the Castro regime aren't going to work," he added. He said Cuban authorities also reduce the availability of water to the mission from time to time. McCormack said he suspects that the decision to cut the power was in response to efforts by the mission to provide information to the Cuban people. "That, of course, is not something that the Castro regime takes kindly to," he said. (AP, 12/6/06)
June 13: State-supplied electricity flowed again at the US diplomatic mission in Havana, even as Cuba termed a "blatant" lie US charges that power had been deliberately cut more than a week ago. "The lights came back on in the early afternoon," said mission spokesperson Drew Blakeney, who attributed the service renewal to international coverage of the US charge. But Blakeney said he doubted problems with Fidel Castro's government were over. "We need visas for our personnel who are going to work here, both on a long-term and short-term basis," he said. "We need permission to import cars, we need a regular supply of electricity, we need a regular supply of water (…) or obviously our presence here is unsustainable." The Castro government said earlier that the Bush administration and Miami-based Cuban-American groups were seeking a pretext to close the mission and end limited cooperation between the long-time ideological foes on immigration and other matters. "They lie blatantly (…) We categorically deny that there have been premeditated electricity cuts," a statement carried by all state-run media said. [Editorial Granma] (Reuters, 13/6/06)
June 13: The State Department said that it is not prepared to except Cuban authorities' claim that a cut off of power to the US Interests Section in Havana can be attributed to bad weather. At his daily press briefing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a reporter who cited the Cuban statement: "You'll excuse me if I don't take that explanation at face value." "Look, you know, this is an authoritarian regime. It's not as though they don't control the power company and whether or not the power gets cut off to the US Interests Section. And I would note it is very, very strange, and I lay this out for whether it's coincidence or not, but it's the only building or compound on the block that doesn't have power. So - and we did pay our power bill," the official said. (EFE, 13/6/06)
June 13: Firms including Marathon Oil are lobbying congress to be allowed to bid for oil and natural-gas deposits in Cuban waters. They are backed by Republican legislators bucking Bush by supporting legislation to exempt the oil firms from the 1962 Cuban trade embargo and a ban on drilling within 160km of US shores. The US need for energy and the likelihood that foreign companies will rush in to drill justifies the exemption, advocates say. "Are we supposed to sit by and let China drill in our own backyard?" asked senator Pete Domenici, chairman of the senate energy committee, a co-sponsor with 12 other legislators of legislation exempting the US energy companies. (Bloomberg, 13/6/06)
June 13: Cuba has declared an end to the daily blackouts that have wreaked havoc on peoples' lives and the economy since the collapse of former-benefactor the Soviet Union in 1991. In the latest sign Cuba is recovering from a long economic crisis, Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia told parliament a $US1-billion program to link hundreds of large generators to the energy grid meant there was 1000 megawatts more power available for the summer when demand peaks. "In less than eight months conditions have been created that guarantee that there will be no blackouts in our country due to a lack of generating capacity," the minister said in her report published by the official media. (Reuters, 13/6/06)
June 14: Florida's determination to block oil drilling close to its coastline irritates some members of Congress. And this week they weren't shy about expressing their frustration, with one House member asking how the state can ''dictate to America'' where to drill.   Colleen Castille, secretary of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, took a drubbing from members of the House Resources Committee as they reviewed the latest gambit to open offshore waters to drilling -- offer states a share of the royalties if they agree to permit energy exploration along their coasts. Though Castille said her boss, Governor Jeb Bush, isn't necessarily opposed to the legislation -- provided it gives Florida a significant buffer -- the state's no-drill position came under fire from lawmakers who want to open the outer continental shelf to drilling but have been thwarted by the governor and the Florida congressional delegation. (The Miami Herald, 16/6/06)
June 19: The presence of Chinese oil rigs along the coast of Cuba and a new attempt in Congress to tap the eastern Gulf of Mexico are putting pressure on Florida to allow American companies to drill for oil and natural gas near the state's shores. Drilling advocates unveiled a proposal that would remove the federal ban on drilling 100 miles beyond the coast and offer states financial incentives to allow it closer. At the same time, some drilling advocates in the House and Senate are pressing to compete with companies from China, Canada and other countries to explore off the Cuban coast only 50 miles from Key West. (The Miami Herald, 20/6/06)
June 21: Cuba is investing in its ethanol refineries with hopes of increasing its production of renewable fuel fivefold as it bets on growing ethanol demand in the face of rising petroleum prices, a leading sugar expert said. Luis Galvez of the Cuban Research Institute for Sugar Cane Derivatives said by 2010 Cuba hoped to be producing 500 million liters (about 130 million gallons) of ethanol annually, which he said would be a fivefold increase of what it produces now. Galvez spoke to about 200 representatives from a dozen countries at an international congress on sugar and its derivatives. He did not give a current production figure for Cuban ethanol, but did say the island had 17 distilleries capable of producing up to 180 million liters (about 48 million gallons) annually. To increase production, Galvez said, Cuba must modernize 11 of those existing plants and build seven additional new ones. He did not say how much the improvements would cost. (AP, 21/6/06)
June 27: A blackout of about two hours affected areas in the municipalities of Diez de Octubre and San Miguel del Padrón, in Havana. The reasons for it are not currently known. Similar power cuts were reported in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, which indicates that the new energy plan promoted by Fidel Castro from generators does not seem to be a definitive solution. (Cubanet, 27/6/06)
June 29: Thousands of professors and students from the University of Havana will be participating in the control and distribution of fuel in the island’s capital. "We were called to participate in a task for the Revolution on a voluntary basis", a professor said. According to a student who talked with the press, professors and students will be working on trucks distributing fuel, controlling sales and the route of vehicles. All educational activities have been suspended until next September. (AFP, 29/6/06)

July 2006

July 3: A shipment of 250,000 energy-saving light bulbs arrived in Jamaica from Cuba, kick-starting Phase two of the Government's plan to distribute four million fluorescent bulbs to Jamaican households, free of cost. Senator Kern Spencer, State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, said the bulbs were at the Kingston Wharf and would be distributed to residents of four constituencies. He said also that 100 Cuban technicians would be arriving in the island to help with the distribution. The bulbs were provided by the Cuban government at no cost for Jamaica. However, the overall estimated retail value of the four million bulbs is $2 billion. (Jamaica Gleaner, 3/7/06)
July 6: More than 1.3 million Cuban students will be mobilized this summer to undertake tasks linked to a drive against corruption and the so-called energy revolution promoted by Fidel Castro. "The organization is aiming to make this its most important mobilization yet," said the first secretary of the Young Communist League, Julio Martínez. Students from universities, as well as from middle and elementary schools "will participate along with social workers in approximately 20 special tasks chosen by the revolution within the framework of an on-going campaign to fight illegal activities, corruption and promote energy-saving." (AFP, 6/7/06)  
July 15: Every square meter of Cuba receives 5 kilowatt-hour of solar energy per day, equivalent to half a kilogram of fuel every 24 hours and uniformly spread throughout the island. Emir Madruga, manager of ECOSOL, state-run enterprise in charge of making and installing solar systems, considers energy from the sun a fundamental strategic element for sustained development. In an interview published by Granma International weekly, the specialist said the country has been able to solve numerous power needs for social and economic targets in areas isolated from the national grid. There are applications such as the photo-voltaic electrification program for family doctor offices in the mountains and isolated rural areas, with more than 400 installations up and working; mountain hospitals, boarding schools, social centers; 2,364-plus elementary schools where TV and VCR equipment was installed. (Prensa Latina, 15/7/06)
July 21: Canadian engineering graduate Dwayne Wohlgemuth discovered that unlike many underdeveloped countries, the Cuban population that goes without electricity is limited to 4.5 percent. Dwayne Wohlgemuth traveled to Cuba for an internship to immerse himself in yet another culture while working with solar electricity projects in rural communities, says The Gateway, University of Alberta website. Wohlgemuth participated in an existing six-year program, started by Cuban organizations, to install 60 solar panel systems for medical clinics. "The first installation we helped with, for example, was a nine kilowatt system for a high school in a remote mountainous area," Wohlgemouth explained. "A nine kilowatt system is quite huge for solar, including 90 solar panels with a total area of approximately 100 square meters. This is now the second biggest solar electricity system in Cuba." (Prensa Latina, 21/7/06)
July 26: Fidel Castro inaugurated the country's largest new power-generator system in the eastern province of Holguin. The initiative --connected to the national grid-- is part of the ongoing National Energy Program aimed at boosting the efficient use of fuels. The power generation facility will contribute over 200,000 kilowatts, nearly the same output as one of the units of the thermoelectric plant operating in that Cuban territory. The mounting and testing of the project took only five months. (ACN, 27/7/06)
July 27: Using its own resources, Cuba will soon start building its first eolian park in a northeastern coastal area, which is ideal to develop that alternative energy source from wind activity. Vladimir Alvarez, a specialist of the Integral Directive Board of the Eolian Project in Holguin, told the press ground movement will start in August on the Gibara coast, where six generators will be placed. That equipment will generate 5.1 megawatts, although the eolian-electrical potential in Holguin is over 500 megawatts, equivalent to the production of the generating units of Lidio Ramon Perez thermoelectric station in Felton area in the same province. Park operations will begin in early 2007, with a design to take advantage of the trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean, which reach this area perpendicularly. (Prensa Latina, 27/7/06)
July 30: Cuban authorities are cracking down on people who fail to pay for electric service and break other utility rules in Havana, where more than 800 violations have been registered so far this year, the press reported. Cuba's state-owned power company has deployed 192 inspectors across the capital to uncover fraud by electric customers, the weekly Tribuna de La Habana said. Among the violations being targeted are the unauthorized resetting of electric meters and other tactics to avoid paying electricity bills. Violators face penalties ranging from service cutoffs to fines and even jail time if convicted of a repeat offence. State-owned power company OBE said payments for service in Havana have not been matching consumption, drawing the attention of company personnel. Company officials estimated that fraud in 2006 was running at three times the rate last year. (EFE, 30/7/06)