Australian oil company Melbana Energy is seeking to close a...

Australian oil company Melbana Energy is seeking to close a contract with Cuban authorities to exploit the coastal region north of Havana. According to the company's own official website, a binding production sharing contract for incremental oil recovery is being pursued.
On the Cuban side, Cuba's state-owned oil company, CUPET, would enter, giving it a long-term right to develop and share improved production from the Santa Cruz oil field on the country's northern coast.

The Santa Cruz oil field is located between the Boca de Jaruco and Canasí fields and 150 km (93 miles) west of block 9 on Melbana land. Although Australians are not the only ones present in this territory of exploitation, in which Chinese companies work and Russian companies also aspire to do so.

This exploitation region was discovered in 2004 when a well diverted from the coast to the offshore structure was drilled. Initial test production was 1,250 b/d, of crude ranging from 10°API to 22°API.

Investors believe Santa Cruz has a recovery potential of up to 100 MMbbl and that the deposit spans an area of more than 20 ksquare kilometers (7.7 square miles). By 2012, production was around 1,600 b/d, with 7.4 MMbbl accumulated, produced from 18 wells.

Since 2022, Melbana has started two new exploration programs in the area. The first was called Alameda-1, from which they estimate that they could extract approximately 5 billion barrels in the place. The second exploration program the company undertook this June 2023, and although there are no details of the possible extraction figures in the report, they have already announced another exploration phase called Alameda-3.

Good find yysy... nice last para though it is appraisal, not exploration.