Castro Announces Crude Oil Discovery

[Rose Siding]

HAVANA -- President Fidel Castro said a crude oil deposit has been discovered off Cuba containing up to 100 million barrels, good news for a country that imports about half the petroleum it needs.

"This is the first discovery since 1999," Castro said Friday in a speech to a closed session of the National Assembly. His comments were aired on state television Saturday.
...
Cuba currently produces 75,000 barrels daily, about half of what it needs. It imports most of the rest, much of it on favorable terms from political ally Venezuela.

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 turned up only modest discoveries.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-cuba-oil,0,4286650.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[greenman3610]

1. look for the embargo to lift soon

[forksofbuffalo]

60. Well, they will need some help

getting out of the ground.

[BlueJazz]

2. Geez...Don't let the Bush Administration find out about this.

They'll want to go "Liberate" the Cuban People.

[Patsy Stone]

9. Already in the works, my friend...

http://www.periodico26.cu/english_new/opinion/december251204.htm

"Meanwhile, the Bush administration and its hand-picked Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba have other plans, which border on fantasy, for its island neighbor to the south. Besides updating ten US government's 45-year project to destroy the Revolution, the 450-page document issued in May by the commission details how the newly colonized island would function when freed from the supposed shackles of communism."

[Mika]

10. Just like Bremmer's 100 constitutional laws in Iraq

Total privatization of all of Cuba's infrastructure, just like the US's plan for Iraq.

Cubans in Cuba will not tolerate such a thing.

[Patsy Stone]

18. Cubans in Miami will have a field day

Did you know that the State of Florida already has several scenarios envisioned and contingency plans of all kinds for the day Castro either dies or is deposed?

The Cubans down here will all run back to claim their homes and land for vacation property. Suits will be filed. It will greatly effect our economy here and it will become another Bahamas; somewhere we go on a Day Cruise to gamble and drink.

The power stuggle between the comfortably well-off, first-wave Cuban immigrants and the poor Cubans in Cuba. Fascinating stuff.

I have actually always thought (obviously before this discovery, but now -- What a Bonus!) that if * was interested in "getting rid of a bad man," he could have started with Castro, before jumping in full to Saddam.

It could have been accomplished in a long weekend. The political capital * would have from the Cubans for the rest of his Presidency and for all R candidates until the end of times would have been more valuable than the oil we're not getting out of Iraq.

[catzies]

24. Patsy darling, how right you are.

When I was a schoolgirl in 1970s Miami, I heard stories from the parents and grandparents of my friends, and it gave me a desire to see Cuba for myself one of these days.

The Smithsonian magazine devoted a cover story to Cuba's rainforests last year; said it's the largest remaining unspoiled rainforest in the Caribbean. The accompanying photos were gorgeous, and I thought, "I'd love to see it someday!"

So, now there's oil to be had in Cuba. Pity. I guess if I want to see the rainforest before it's destroyed, I'd better get there soon.

Cheers sweetie!

[Patsy Stone]

26. Yes

I have always wanted to go. I have Cuban friends who have gone and Cubans friends who threaten to disown me if I ever give a penny to that man. Since 1980 and the boatlift, the attitudes down here range from I'd never go back to I can't wait to go back. It will be so interesting. I just keep replaying those scenes from Godfather II in my mind over and over. The ones on the balcony with Michael and Hyman Roth.

"If I could only live to see it, to be there with you. What I wouldn't give for twenty more years! Here we are, protected, free to make our profits without Kefauver, the goddamn Justice Department and the F.B.I. ninety miles away, in partnership with a friendly government. Ninety miles! It's nothing! Just one small step, looking for a man who wants to be President of the United States, and having the cash to make it possible. Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel."

[catzies]

27. Yes, interesting indeed. And a ringside seat, no less.

My parents are down in Kendall and they are of the same mind, and wonder which of the multiple response scenarios is going to kick in when it all goes down.

I do hope though that people don't completely lose their minds so that they have to invoke martial law. It could get ugly, I'm afraid. So stay safe, but keep us posted on events when (god forbid) it happens, yes?

[Patsy Stone]

28. I will! p.s. Hello Kitty! n/t :)

[ronnykmarshall]

44. A bit of Boli, sweetie?

Hurry up and drink it sweetie, Saffy's on her way home.

[MnFats]

48. Yes, and the Miami area cops agencies have planned...

...for years to respond/keep crowd control when Castro or his government go.
....that will be some dicey business.

[this_side_up]

15. Ha. New hotels and casinos

lining the beaches, new markets for cigars,
new market for Bible-thumping Behinders to
conquer

I am still amazed that this rest of the world
hasn't told the US to piss off and put permanent
bans on Reps and Dems politicians and corporate
big whigs from entering their countries.

As much as I detest them, I do like the idea
of confining all of them to the US

[truthisfreedom]

3. how... nice.

[Mika]

4. Great news!

BTW, most of the Caribbean nations get their oil from Venezuela under favorable terms, not just Cuba.

[hippiechick]

5. INVADE CUBA !!!!

They're harboring oil, uh .. er.. I mean Terraists !! We must liberate Cuba NOW !!!

/sarcasm


:hippie:

[IndianaGreen]

38. I can hear John Bolton rail about WMDs in Cuba

and Rumsfeld and Condi talk about an Al-Qaeda presence in Cuba, and Fidel's role in 9/11.

Mention OIL, and your country will be the next target of American bombs!

[Unforgiven]

39. That's where they went

they were there all along. We attacked the wrong country, how stupid of us.

[Kelvin Mace]

6. Next invasion, coming up

That's five days worth of oil for the US.

David Allen
www.thoughtcrimes.org

[Mika]

8. Five days? More like five minutes.

:hi:

[Lostnote03]

7. Damn!!!"Castro Stumbles out of Plane"

[SariesNightly]

11. If I remember right..

.. we're using 80 million barrels a day.

On the other hand, I hear Canada's sitting on a pretty big lump of black goo.

[ashmanonar]

12. gah

so i guess the plan is to just take on the whole world? i wonder when we'll finally hit a wall? i know when we do, it'll be the soldiers who suffer, sadly...

so, what do you guys think? any opinions on when we'll hit the wall and how badly we'll be hurt?

[qwertyMike]

14. The Chinese

just got their hands on Canada's black goo.
I heard they used some of the American debt they hold to lease it.

:)

[this_side_up]

16. Canada has water. We want it. eom

[Massacure]

20. The world uses 80 million barrels per day. The U.S. uses 20 million.

[Mike C]

21. Actually,

more like 18 MMBOPD.

[Bandit]

57. The whole world uses twenty billion barrels a year

There are approximately one thousand billion barrels left. I suspect the price of oil will not come down anytime soon.

[Lostnote03]

17. Is Castro attempting to draw a line in His sand ?

.......Energy and Healthcare are the two topics that the DEMs should be addressing.....That is OF COURSE secondary to the task on hand which is electoral "accountability"......

[Muzzle Tough]

13. This is not good.

This will wreck the aquatic ecosystems, reduce the amount of biodiversity, and contribute to global warming.

[donsu]

43. something the US does every second of every day

why do you think the northern Gulf of Mex. is dead. the US killed it.

[Lostnote03]

19. I wonder if he will be taking advice from the Ex-Shell CEO???

[Mike C]

22. And don't get too excited.

A 100 MMBO field isn't exactly large. The term 'giant' is reserved for fields over 500 MMBO and 'super-giant' for those over 1000 MMBO (all numbers are recoverable oil, not OIP). And the eastern GOM is not expected to be anywhere as near prolific as the western GOM in the US and Mexico - the geology just isn't as favorable.

[Lostnote03]

29. Robin Hood they ain't!!!

.....their premature and over reaction to our energy dependance certainly has solidified the "Ugly American" into the global image of our secret Govt not to mention the needless waste of research and development funds to expedite/soften the human transition ...We need a rational energy policy to emerge that does not have as its basis power/profit.....We certainly do not need a pathetic replay of a Very Bad Dallas episode!!!

[tsuki]

23. Well, I guess that fella Castro just ain't that bad, now is

he? /sarcasm off, disgust still on

[LisaL]

25. Ah-ha.

I hope that doesn't lead to liberation of Cuba.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. The CIA says Cuba has weapons of mass destruction!

Er, no, wait. We've learned that Castro is thinking about instituting programs for the development of research on weapons of mass destruction. No, that's not it. Uh... We have to liberate the Cuban people! Yeah, that's it...!

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

34. Don't forget the sex-slave industry...

them and Venezuela - go figure...

[Mokito]

53. "And that's A slam dunk!" to quote George Tenet.

[Miami Liberal]

31. I don't believe it

In the words of * Castro is famously known for his "exaggerations."

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

33. Gee, what a source for your opinion! (nt)

[Miami Liberal]

35. I wasn't using * as a source

I was simply borrowing * comment from the presidential debate and his use of the word "exaggerations."

[Vogon_Glory]

50. I Think I Can Believe It...

I think that I can believe that someone struck oil. I did see pump jacks near Moron (on the Cuban "mainland")back in the spring of 2003. There's also offshore oil off Mexico and Texas. I can believe that there's more in the seas near Cuba, too.

[genieroze]

32. When do we invade?

[Gloria]

36. Radio Havana was talking about this months ago...I think they

said the the EU was involved with this already.....So, we are at odds with the EU over Iran and next it will be over Cuba.

I hope the EU screws up the plans we have to privatize the whole damned island. Radio Havana reads from the huge document which outlines all the nifty plans to privatize their health care and ruin their education system (extremely high literacy rate in Cuba). All that business about not being able to visit as often and not sending money to relatives is just the tip of the iceberg from that plan....another PNAC special.

[VegasWolf]

37. Castro should never have let chimp know that he has OIL. n/t

[Must_B_Free]

40. 667 days of oil for cuba

75,000 barrels daily, about half of what it needs
daily need 150,000
up to 100 million barrels,
= 667 days of oil for cuba

[njdemocrat106]

41. Breaking News: Bush announces Cuba was behind 9/11 attacks

It's time to liberate these people and locate their weapons of mass destruction. :eyes:

[Daybreaker]

42. How much is it worth?

What's a barrel of oil worth? And how much is 100 million barrels worth?

[amazona]

45. lot of oil in that gulf of mexico

I hope this discovery brings only good and not ill to Cuba and the rest of the region.

[Mika]

46. It is good. One reason why..

.. because Cuba won't need as much oil, at a special price, from that dictator Chavez. ;)

[goforit]

47. And here come the pirates of the PNAC..............Watch out Cuba,

AND.....Here is more Bush Propaganda via their beloved media
outlet....The New York Times
Play it again Sam..........
(Ya can read these guys like a book)

<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/26/international/americas/26havana.html?oref=login&pagewanted=all>

"Cuba Counters Prostitution With AIDS Programs"
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

Published: December 26, 2004


"HAVANA - Like many prostitutes who ply their trade in the darkened bars and discos near tourist hotels here, María says she does not go out every night. But whenever money gets tight and her 12-year-old son is hungry, she puts on a red miniskirt, puts rouge on her lips and heads for El Conejito bar, a thinly disguised rendezvous point.

"Most of the tourists come to look for girls, tobacco, you know, the things they cannot get in their country," she said. "They say the Cuban girls are very hot."

María, who is 36 and insisted that her last name not be published, said she worried about contracting AIDS and forced her clients to use condoms, every time. She is knowledgeable about the disease, having learned about it through the government's anti-AIDS program, and she was tested twice during a stint in jail last year for prostitution. Since then, she said, she voluntarily gets tested regularly at the free health clinics.

A decade after an economic collapse forced thousands of young women and men into prostitution, Cuba has become something of an anomaly in Latin America: a destination for sex tourists where AIDS has yet to become an uncontrollable pandemic.

Cuba has the lowest infection rate in the Western Hemisphere, less than 0.1 percent of the population, according to the World Health Organization. The infection rate in the United States is six times that in Cuba, and Cuba's rate is far below that in many neighboring countries in the Caribbean and Central America. "

(con''t)............

[Judi Lynn]

49. Isn't it strange?

Shows how low the N.Y. Times is willing to go, now that they have a right-wing fiend in the White House. Simply unforgivable. How many ways can they stun and appall readers who expect the truth?

This article you posted was picked up as a thread topic here, with more comments:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1099928

[Texas Transie]

51. castro is a bum.

i don't like him.

[radwriter0555]

52. Peak oil REMAINS A MYTH... There is NO oil shortage, nor will there BE

an oil shortage in the next several hundred years.

[NickB79]

54. Really? Have you done the calculations for this reserve?

By world standards, this reserve is tiny. As Massacre posted, the US alone uses 20 million barrels PER DAY. Cuba's oil discovery that you imply invalidates the theory of Peak Oil would only last us 5 DAYS!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

59. How DARE you disrupt the distribution of Kool-Aid?

</sarcasm>

[Zech Marquis]

55. thats why * wants to "liberate" Cuba all of a sudden

not the actual people--as if he gives a shit--it's all that oil just waiting for Halliburton to get their greedy little hands on :evilgrin:

[Tight_rope]

56. Damn...let's see how fast the US becomes buddies with Castro.

[HeeBGBz]

58. Is Castro baiting * ?

That's how it appears to me.