Cuba & Energy: A news chronology

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

2006

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)

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 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 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 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 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 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)

September 10: India's state-run oil company signed an agreement to explore Cuba's Gulf of Mexico waters for oil at a time when US companies and politicians are increasingly concerned over exploration in the area. Cuba Petroleum Director Fidel Rivero Prieto said upon signing the agreement that six foreign companies had signed for 16 of 59 blocks in Cuba's Gulf waters, two companies more than previously announced. Prieto refused to name the two other companies or which blocks they had taken due to possible US objections. "It is up to the companies to announce if they want," he said. India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) overseas arm ONGC Videsh signed joint production agreements for blocks 34 and 35 covering 4,300 square kilometers (1,660 square miles). (Reuters, Bloomberg News, The Globe and Mail, 10/9/06)

September 12: Cuba has entered partnerships with four foreign companies to look for offshore oil in the Gulf of Mexico, as US companies are unable to compete for deals because of Washington's four-decades-long embargo on the Communist-run state. "We are beginning a new phase," Cuba's petroleum director Fidel Rivero Prieto said, upon signing two blocks with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp.'s overseas arm ONGC Videsh.  Industry sources said Malaysia's state-run Petroliam Nasional Berhad, Norway's Norsk Hydro ASA and an unidentified company, perhaps from Venezuela or China, have joined the search this year. US companies are barred from exploring for oil in Cuba's offshore zone. But the possibility of striking oil just 145 kilometres off US shores has companies urging Washington to ease the 1962 embargo against Fidel Castro's leftist government.  Kirby Jones, president of US-Cuba Trade Association, said, "Cuba officials have stated many times that they are willing to discuss partnership with US energy companies."  He said bills are pending in the US Congress to allow US companies "to enter into discussions with Cuban officials as soon as possible." A Cuban Foreign Ministry official said such discussions with US companies would be welcome. (Reuters, 12/9/06)

September 20: Export Assistance Canada accepted applications for Canadian companies that want to join its October 29 trade mission to Havana. The visit will coincide with Havana's International Trade Fair. Participating Canadian companies will have an opportunity to meet Cuban buyers and importers of industrial machinery, as well as purchasers of equipment and materials for the oil, gas and mining industries. Cuban government officials also will be on hand. "With the increasing prices of oil, gas and minerals such as nickel and copper, Cuba is implementing numerous projects of exploration and modernization of their production facilities," Export Assistance Canada said. "These industries are soaring and the demand for new or used machinery, as well as automation processes, is stronger than ever. Construction machinery is also in demand. Banking institutions, some of them doing business in Canada, are very active in Cuba to finance their orders (…) Given especially the absence of American competition, the opportunities for Canadian suppliers in Cuba in the oil, gas and mining industries are numerous." Products in demand in Cuba include industrial and construction machinery, machinery and equipment for exploration, refining and transportation of oil and gas, and machinery and equipment for exploration and production of nickel and copper. (Metal Bulletin News Alert Service, 20/9/06)

September 22: A two-days meeting of the presidents of provincial committees of Cuban People's Power resumed in Havana. Presided over by First Vice President Raul Castro and other top Communist Party and government officials, the meeting took a look at the nation's priority housing program. It was reported that as of August, some 68,600 houses had been completed and that there is a firm commitment to reach the stated goal of 100,000 by the end of the year. Participants also evaluated the progress of the nation's energy revolution that involves both saving and new generation strategies. Reports were made on the replacement of old energy inefficient refrigerators and air conditioners in residential homes with new energy-saving ones. Current electricity consumption and demand was reviewed, as was progress in the installing of clusters of diesel generators and their synchronization to the national power grid, expected to be completed in October. Another issue discussed at the meeting was assistance to 107,272 Social Security recipients including low income people, retirees, the physically disabled and pregnant women with health risks. The distribution of basic food items at the neighborhood stores and audits of the wholesaler's warehouses were also reviewed. (Granma, 22/9/06)

September 27: A huge blaze broke out in the pumping section of the state-owned Ñico Lopez refinery, located on Havana Bay 10 kilometers from the city center. The blaze at Cuba's biggest oil refinery in Havana left one worker dead and another injured, television reports said. It took firefighters five hours to put it out, as two workers injured in the blaze were taken to a nearby military hospital, where one of them later died. "We've got it under control," a fire department spokesman told the press. "The fire broke out in an area of the refinery where there's plenty of gasoline, when a van engine was turned on," he added.  Another fire broke out 10 years ago at the same refinery, but it was extinguished in two hours without any injuries or major damage. The refinery, formerly owned by Esso and Shell, predates the 1959 Cuban revolution. Flames from the refinery, located on the fringes of Havana's port quarter, were visible all over the Cuban capital "for at least six or seven hours," a source said. (AFP, Platts Commodity News, 29/9/06)  

October 3: Pebercan, oil company quoted as PBC in Toronto's Stock Exchange, announced an increase of 42 per cent in extraction of fuel from its north-western oil fields in Cuba this year, compared to the same period of 2005. Gross daily production at Block 7 in the Cuban north-western oil belt, approaches 21,000 barrels per day, of which 11,500 barrels is Pebercan's share, and that was before the hook up of well STC-302 which has proven successful, according to the company. Subsidiary of Sherritt International which has also signed for four blocks in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Pebercan expects that with the two extra wells that will be drilled before year-end, it should be able to achieve the objective of 15,000 barrels per day in her share of production, a 60 per cent increase over 2005. (Prensa Latina, 3/10/06)

October 4: Sherritt International Corp., a Canadian company that produces nickel and oil in Cuba, plans to expand on the island nation because executives are confident the investment will be safe after Fidel Castro cedes power or dies. Nickel production at Sherritt's Moa facility in Cuba will rise almost 50 percent to 50,000 tons a year by about 2010, Chief Financial Officer Guy Bentinck said at a conference in Toronto. The company also will produce more than 20 percent of Cuba's electricity within the next few years, he said. Shares of Sherritt trade at a discount because of its joint ventures in Cuba, Bentinck said. The executive said he is counting on the company's investment in key parts of Cuba's economy and relationships with the government and workers to secure its investments after Castro leaves office, he said. "Our relationships in Cuba are exceptional, and no matter who's in power, that will continue," Bentinck said. "We operate all the assets and control the technology, that's one of the reasons that our position is so strong in Cuba." Shares of Sherritt are discounted because its business in Cuba prevents it from accessing US capital and markets, Bentinck said. (Bloomberg, 4/10/06)

October 6: Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA has cut its October unleaded gasoline export flow to neighbouring Cuba due to refinery problems, oil traders and ship brokers said. In the past two weeks, PDVSA shut its 54,000 barrels per day cat cracker at El Palito refinery after an electrical outage, and its Puerto La Cruz refinery was also experiencing operational problems. The export flow stoppage to Cuba was confirmed by a source close to PDVSA. "Venezuela will not be exporting any unleaded gasoline to Cuba in October," said a ship broker in the United States. A PDVSA official did not immediately respond to request for comment. (Reuters, 6/10/06)

October 7: The Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) and the Cuba Oil Company (Cubapetroleo) signed an agreement for oil and gas cooperation. The signing ceremony was witnessed by visiting Vietnamese Minister of Industry Hoang Trung Hai and Cuba's Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas. In a working session the two ministers dealt with the two countries' cooperation, especially in the industrial field. The two countries were cooperating in basic industries, metallurgy, light industries and the food-processing industry. (Vneconomy, 9/10/06)

October 12: Cuba is eager to revive its once mighty sugar industry and, with the help of foreign investors, become a global player in the fast- growing ethanol fuel sector, say Cuba analysts and energy specialists. It has been decades since the communist island stood alone at the top of the list of the world's biggest sugar producers, but Cuban officials reportedly are adamant about reviving sugar, the country's No. 1 export until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. One Cuba analyst with close ties to the country's sugar ministry noted that Cuban officials were seeking overseas assistance in reviving the industry, though they acknowledged that will be difficult because of the country's chronic lack of revenue and resources. In response to the growing global demand for the commodity, Havana created a Cuban business society called ZERUS, which is charged with supervising investment projects in Cuba's sugar sector. ZERUS Director Jose Rivera Ortiz said in an recent interview with Cuban business magazine Opciones that Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Investment has already approved the group's initiative to revive the sugar industry - with an eye on ethanol. (The Washington Times, 12/10/06)

October 18: After three years of remaining on a summer daylight savings time schedule, Cuba's National Electrical Union decided to go back to its normal schedule during this month of October. On October 28 going into October 29, watches should be set back one hour returning to the normal schedule, which in Cuba is known as the winter schedule. Due to electricity generation shortages, it was decided to maintain the summer daylight savings schedule for three years; however, the country is now in a position to produce all the energy it needs, which is why it was decided to go back to the regular schedule. (Prensa Latina, 18/10/06)

October 19: Cuban chemists look for new technologies that allow efficient use of renewable energy sources, said the president of the Cuban Chemistry Society Doctor Alberto Nuñez Sellen during the 27 Latin American Chemistry Congress, underway in Havana. The challenge facing our professionals is to find ways that make the country increasing independent from oil-based fuels, with the growing use of renewable energy sources and ecologic systems that have a positive impact on the planet's environment, the expert said. In statements to the press, Doctor Nuñez said that chemistry can make its contribution to the development of the Cuban national energy program. He explained that some energy sources that can be exploited in Cuba include sun and wind energy, while the combustion of hydrogen is another challenge ahead. (ACN, 19/10/06)

October 20: Montreal-based junior Pebercan is gearing up for further development of its Santa Cruz field in Cuba's Block 7. Pebercan exploration manager Patrice Bedu said the company plans to spud three more wells this year as part of its Cuban oil programme. Santa Cruz is currently producing about 6,000 barrels per day, with output expected to reach commercial levels by the end of this year, possibly in November. Ongoing development and well drilling at the field should allow the company to take crude output to 15,000 bpd by the end of 2007, he said. Located off Cuba's northern coast between Havana and Matanzas, Block 7 holds three oil fields, including Santa Cruz, where horizontal wells on the shoreline tap deep into a stack of carbonated thrust sheets offshore. The other two fields in the block are Canasi and Seboruco. Pebercan holds a 60% stake in Canasi and 55% in Seboruco, with the two fields operated by Canadian oil producer Sherritt. (Upstream, 20/10/06)

November 20: Venezuelan oil experts Humberto Calderón Berti and José Toro Hardy rejected as "swindle" an oil agreement between Venezuela and Cuba, claiming the deal amounts to a mere "barter." According to Calderón Berti, under the agreement Venezuela originally undertook to provide 53,000 bpd of oil, a figure that now exceeds 100,000 bpd. "And Venezuela is receiving no payment for these volumes of crude oil exported." He added that Venezuelans were told Cuba would provide free healthcare services to Venezuela under the agreement, and so far the island has failed to meet this obligation. Calderón Berti stressed that out of the oil exports from Venezuela to Cuba so far -which amount to USD 2.2 billion- USD 555 million are long-term debt, with a three-year grace period and a 15-year term for repayment, which he described as a bad debt. "Venezuela will never get this money back. This debt is endorsed by promissory notes issued by the National Bank of Cuba at a 2 percent interest rate which mean nothing and have no value." He added that Cuba is supposed to pay the remaining USD 1.66 billion by providing free healthcare services in Venezuela. But according to Toro Hardy, and based on the first addendum to the agreement, dated January 1st, 2000, the institutions, agencies and companies of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have to pay for Cuban healthcare goods and services, which means that "Cuba is not giving anything." (El Universal, 20/11/06)

November 21: Vice President Carlos Lage, during a visit to the eastern city of Holguin with Sugar Minister Ulises Rosales, said the regime has made "significant investment" in reinvigorating the sugar industry. This year's "zafra," or sugar cane harvest, produced 1.2 million tons of the crop, a far cry from the several million tons per year of the 1960s and '70s, and the much-heralded and eventually failed national mobilization to reach the 10-million-ton mark in 1970. Authorities see good prospects for cane-derived products such as alcohol in the growing global market for alternative fuels. They have projected a 25-percent increase in the 2007 zafra, and a five-fold hike in production of cane alcohol.  Recovery of the sugar industry follows the wholesale reorganization effected in 2002, when nearly 100 refining mills nationwide were closed and half the acreage dedicated to cane was given over to other crops. An estimated 350,000 workers are employed in the sugar industry in this nation of 11 million people. (EFE, 21/11/06)

November 27: Power cuts have increased in several sectors of the City of Havana, reported an official of the provincial Electric Company. The official said that the interruptions were due to breakdowns in the electrical lines. The most affected municipalities have been Plaza de la Revolución, Cerro and 10 de Octubre. (Cubanet, 27/11/06) 

December 26: The final stage of installing a large area of wind generators on the Isla de la Juventud in southwestern Cuba is near completion. "The alternative energy source is part of the island's Energy Revolution," explained Yadira Garcia Vera, minister of Basic Industry, during a tour of the project site. Garcia's ministry is charged with electricity generation for the island. Garcia spoke with workers in charge of erecting the 55-meter-high generators built with French technology. Unlike earlier models, these generators can be dismounted in case of an approaching hurricane. The Isla de la Juventud was selected for the project because of its continuous winds. The system hopes to generate 1,650 KW of electricity. (Granma, 26/12/06)

December 26: Energy production from natural gas originating in wells on the northwest coast of Cuba will reach 400 megawatts of power starting the first semester of 2007. The increased output is the result of investments by the ENERGAS Company, said Engineer Alberto Villalonga, the vice general manager of the company. At the facilities, like those in nearby Varadero, gas from oil wells is extracted, cleaned and processed for use in the generation of electricity that is supplied to the nation's power grid and as raw material for gas manufacturing plants in Havana. ENERGAS is the first company on the island whose equipment was designed especially for this type of high efficiency output, cleaning 90 percent of the gas that it receives. (Periódico 26, 26/12/06)

December 31: Experts say the size of Cuba's offshore oil deposits is still in question, but the potential is impressive. A US Geological Survey study estimates that a curving belt of ocean floor north of Cuba may contain at least 4.5 billion barrels of oil and nearly 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. For impoverished Cuba, the oil prospects are dazzling, and Fidel Castro's government has wasted no time in pushing to develop the fields. Cuba has signed oil deals with firms from Spain, Norway, Venezuela, India, China and Canada, a clear sign that a Cuban oil boom is brewing. The activity has piqued the interest of US lawmakers. Competing bills were introduced in Congress this year, with supporters of the US embargo against Cuba proposing to deny visas to foreign oil workers headed to Cuba. Their opponents introduced a bill that would exempt US firms from the embargo and allow them to participate in the Cuban oil rush. "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," said Senator Bill Nelson (Democrat-Florida), one of the sponsors of the bill aiming to limit the Cuban drilling. Neither bill passed, but the issue seems certain to come up again. Embargo opponents hope that the new Congress, which Democrats will run for the first time in more than a decade, will ease the trade and travel restrictions and allow US participation. The Cuban government has sought bids from American oil firms. "This is a product the U.S. needs," said Kirby Jones, president of the US-Cuba Trade Association, a group seeking to break the embargo. "If we maintain the embargo, it says we don't need that oil and it's OK for India, Canada, Spain and these other countries to take it." (Palm Beach Post, 1/1/07)