US has tied own hands as Cuba drills
January 30, 2012
Juliette Kayyem, Boston Globe
THIS MORNING, a congressional committee will meet in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., to examine our capacity to handle an oil spill in the Caribbean. It is an important event, acknowledging a new reality: Expanding offshore drilling is not exclusively a US pastime. Like so many other North American enterprises, drilling has international appeal.
Perfora, nene, perfora. (In English: drill, baby, drill.)
Cuba is now set to begin tapping the ocean, and the need for rigorous engagement with Havana has never been more immediate. It should not wait for some hoped-for Cuban Spring or for the Castro brothers to die. There is simply no mañana.
Just a few days ago, a large Scarabeo 9 offshore drilling unit, the most powerful rig in the world, arrived off the shores of Havana. Recent seismic data has confirmed potential oil wells near Cuba’s shores. The rig will hold 200 people, and has the capacity to manage two different drilling operations at the same time. It will operate 16 miles off the coast of Cuba, about 80 miles south of Key West, driving down into 5,300 feet of water to a depth of 20,000 feet below the sea floor...
