Wednesday, September 7 2005 10:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Havana: India's oil company will join efforts to search and drill for petroleum in the largely unexplored Gulf of Mexico waters off Cuba's coast, a senior government official said in Havana.

The Cuban Government chose bids by India for two new blocks offered for exploration, Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh told reporters yesterday (Sept 6, 2005) as he wrapped up a two-day official visit here.

"We are also negotiating an agreement with Repsol," he said, referring to the Spanish petrochemicals firm Repsol YPF, which is already exploring and drilling for oil in the waters off the communist-run island. He did not provide details.

Canadian company Sherritt also is exploring off the island's coast.

In July 2004, Repsol reported that it found petroleum reservoirs off Cuba's coast, but said the first well was not considered commercially viable. It has said it will continue to drill.

Oil specialists believe Cuba's waters in the Gulf of Mexico could contain large quantities of crude, just as those of Mexico and the United States do. Earlier explorations, however, turned up only modest discoveries.

Cuba currently produces 75,000 barrels daily, about half of what it needs. It imports much of the rest on favorable terms from political ally Venezuela.

US firms are prohibited from participating in oil exploration off Cuba's coast by more than four decades of US trade and financial sanctions against the island.