Oil Drilling Advances in Cuba

Havana, Aug 20. -Oil extraction workers in the eastern Cuban province of Matanzas have obtained 886,000 tons of crude to date, exceeding the amount obtained in the same period in 2009.

Adding the accompanying gas, the total hydrocarbon equivalent obtained to date is 1.110 million tons, according to the Cuban oil company, Empresa de Perforación y Extracción de Petróleo del Centro (EPEP-C).

According to a Granma newspaper, this achievement represents a considerable part of national production and is an invaluable contribution to the Cuban economy.

EPEC-C officials highlighted the decisive contribution of new extended-reach oil wells in the west and close to the north of the deposit, the site of the biggest explosion in production and prospects for development.

Production results are also due to a ratio of exploitation of over 97 percent, revealing the high level of efficiency, and to the process of modernizing technology.

The new investments will permit the company to obtain over one million tons of oil by the end of 2010, the highest figure in the last 16 years.(Prensa Latina)