Cuban report and Cubans comment on A2 appraisal

Interesting to see this Cuban reaction to A2 results... especially the comments that followed the article. Cubans seem as positive about the news as many of us here are.

Cuban expertsconfirm new oil well in Matanzas

By: OscarFigueredo Reinaldo

In this article:Cuba, Economy, Foreign Investment, Matanzas, Oil, Cuba-Oil Union (Cupet)

The Australiancompany Melbana Energy has recently confirmed the positive results obtained inthe most recent evaluation of the Alameda-2 well in Block 9, located in theprovince of Matanzas. The news, discussed in specialized media such as thedigital publication Upstream Online and a report by Evolution Capital, hasgenerated certain doubts and expectations among our readers. To learn a littlemore about this fact, Cubadebate spoke with Osvaldo López Corso, head of theExploration and Production Group of the Cuba-Petroleum Union.

The specialistexplained to our media that in 2015, this company signed a shared productioncontract with Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET) for the exploration and production of oiland gas in Block 9, located to the east of the Varadero field. “From that year,geological and geophysical studies began, with the aim of mapping areas withhydrocarbon production potential. As a result, 19 exploratory opportunitieswere identified.”

He added that in2020, Melbana partnered with the Angolan company Sonangol, which contributes70% of the capital, to develop the investments committed as part of thecontract. “In 2021, the two companies drilled the first exploratory well:Alameda-1, in the vicinity of the Martí municipality, which was successful anddiscovered several areas with oil saturation. However, its design was notconceived for production, but rather as an exploration well.”

Subsequently,López Corso comments, in 2022 the second exploratory well was drilled:Zapato-1, which turned out to be dry. "Already in 2023 the third well willbe drilled: Alameda 2, close to the first well, with the aim of evaluating andtesting the productive capacity of the intervals already discovered."

The head of theExploration and Production Group of the Cuba-Petróleo Union reported thatAlameda 2 completed its drilling in July 2023 with positive results. “In thetests carried out, production volumes of up to 1,100 barrels of oil per daywere achieved. It is also notable to obtain a crude oil of 18° API, lighter andwith a lower sulfur content than those usually produced in the deposits of theHavana-Matanzas Strip. These results confirm a new discovery,” he stressed.

Currently,Melbana and Sonangol are carrying out, according to the standard norms andprocedures of the oil industry, the necessary investigations to determine themagnitude of this discovery, as well as the estimated volumes of reserves itcontains.

“From the dataobtained during this period of experimental exploitation, it will also bepossible to estimate the sustainability of production over time and propose adevelopment program that will include the drilling of more producing wells, aswell as the assembly of production facilities. treatment and collection ofhydrocarbons,” warned the Cuba-Petróleo specialist.

In the opinion ofCUPET experts, this result is considered one of the most positive obtained inrecent years by foreign investors operating in Cuba. The ongoing studies willmake it possible to define the economic feasibility of exploiting this deposit.

Comment

It is a pity thatthis news reaches the national media late, when it was already known abroad.

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I agree with you.When they told me the news, I went to confirm with official media, and nothing.Now it's out, they should speed up that process more.

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Finally some goodnews, now we have to wait and see how much it gives. Thank goodness they brokethe news, because it was circulating days ago.

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I read thisseveral days ago, I don't remember where I read the news but it was exactly thesame news, with those same details. Why do we take so long to give news, evenif it is good news? Why can't our media be the first to report? Why, sometimeswe do it very late or not at all? However, at a good time!!!!! Great!!! Greatnews!!!

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Very goodnews!!!!

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EXCELLENT !!!!

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The news finallycomes out, days ago I read on the internet and I was waiting for it to bepublished in these media to confirm its veracity

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That is the ideato verify and report with clarity and details.

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Good news!Actually, it had already been given by other media, but it is good thatCubadebate confirmed it. I would like to know, if in the end it is possible toobtain sustainable production, to what extent this is estimated to be a fact.How good it would be for our economy, and it improves as a country, I think?Unless profits are committed to foreign investors, I don't know if in thesecases Cuba has 51% of shares or less, or more...

There should alsobe more talk about the gold mines, and other minerals that have been found andthose that are being exploited.

Greetings...

Comment

Good evening,according to the Foreign Investment Law for Oil Drilling and Extraction,Economic Association Contracts are used for risky drilling, and this is one ofthe cases. The way to share the production that is extracted is agreed bycontract.

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The gold minesare being studied, one on the Isla de la Juventud and the other in Ciego deÁvila, in Gaspar, both with foreign companies, which at their cost and riskcarry out the investigation and if the feasibility is positive, they go on todesign and build the mine and the processing plant and then it is produced,sold (exported) and the costs of the investment are repaid and Cuba obtainsdividends, taxes, royalties, charges for sales of goods, services, expertise ofexcellent geologists, miners and Cuban technologists. There are otherprospective areas for gold that are in the study and research phase and thereis an area in Camagüey already studied and waiting for financing that ispromising but financial resources are needed to put it into exploitation.

It is somethingfor those interested in knowing... for more details it is necessary to contactthe protagonists...

Comment

Congratulations....I hope Mother Nature rewards our hard-working people with lights of recovery!!!It's a shame that I had to find out from a friend who doesn't share my ideas...Thathurt me, I know that everything has to be checked carefully, but let's befaster, especially if the news implies happiness!!!

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I don't know whatthe desperation for immediacy is in this type of news, as if it were acompetition. In my opinion Cubadebate has done the right thing, looking for anexpert and validating the veracity of what was published elsewhere.

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Finding an experttakes no more steps than making a simple phone call.

It is true thatour media lack immediacy, nobody is inventing that, the facts are there everyday, it does not seem the most appropriate for a national event to be publishedfirst in Russia Today, for example, than in cubadebate or in granma.

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Very good news,it does not solve all the problems, but it does solve some of them. It is notan immediate thing, but in a short time when the necessary investments aremade, the fruits will be seen

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Good news!!

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Late for achange. But hey, good news.

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I consider thatit is a promising finding and that has been news that I have been awaiting withgreat optimism. I follow Melbana Energy since 2015 Sonangol's participation isimportant. A discovery of this magnitude must be taken with the first prioritysince it could be a significant takeoff for our economy if solid futurealliances are established.

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Very goodnews!!!! But because our people have to be informed by means other than OURS,because they do not inform us before others do, or why wait on social networksto find out what is happening in our country, because we are not informed aboutthe good and bad news.

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Good night. It ispleasant news and this publication gives more security to the information,because I really doubted its veracity, until I had a reliable source.Congratulations to both Companies and the workers of Cuba - Oil.

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Based on theCubadebate news, I did a search on the internet. Gentlemen, generally theanti-Cuban media always give the information with a defeatist whiff. It seemsthat they did not like the discovery

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Very good newsfor our economy, I hope others like this appear, and the forecast is that Cubacould go from importer to exporter of this necessary resource.

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I have highrespect for all the comments made, but the greatest joy and satisfaction I haveas a citizen is that the words spoken by my deceased grandfather, Mr. VirgilioLopez-Chavez Quiroga, that high-quality oil would be found in Cuba became areality. , because it was in the oil vein and what we have left is to ask Godis that our country achieves one day economic independence and cutting-edgetechnology, thereby allowing the wealth obtained from said export to remain forthe integral and harmonious development of the entire Cuban society.

Comment

Very good news,let's see if we can have some better quality Creole fuel and improve publictransportation and life in our country.

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I have followedthe work of this company since 2016. It achieves this excellent result of 11,000barrels per day of high quality oil (18* API) with low sulfur, refinable and ata short distance from the surface. Couldn't be better!! It constitutes aturning point for our economy.

11,000 barrelsper day is almost 1 million USD per day! This will be the new locomotive.

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According to thisreport, it is not 11 thousand bpd, but 1100 (one thousand one hundred)

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Friend, it isvery good news but it was 1100 barrels per day in this exploratory well, itwould currently be about 88 thousand USD per day, per month 2.6 million USD,per year more than 31 million is enough for a single well but it is not 11million per day. Regards

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To Respect and toMatrix: Thanks for the clarification. My astigmatism and enthusiasm led me astray.

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A few days ago Iread it somewhere on the internet, I didn't pay any attention, I'm used to notfollowing what in the world of communication has always been called rumor, ingood Cuban, gossip..., Until the news isn't Some publication would be national,among them Cubadebate, Granja, .. a report in X, by a recognized official, fromthe area in question I do not put the stamp, you see it difficult, for many,but it is so. Very good news, hopefully more will come