Exploratory Oil Drilling Done Off Cuba

Drilling of an exploratory well in  Cuba's virgin Gulf of Mexico waters that could make the  Communist nation an oil exporter and undermine the U.S. embargo  has been completed, a senior official said. Work on the well by Spain's Repsol YPF began in  June and captured the attention of the industry and governments  due to its potential economic and political consequences. "The drilling has ended and the Spanish company is  assessing the results. We don't know if there is good quality  oil yet. We expect to be informed in two weeks," the Cuban  official, who spoke on the condition he was not identified,  said on Saturday evening. A commercially viable find could transform the  cash-strapped island from oil importer to petroleum exporting  nation, adding pressure on the United States to lift its  four-decades-old trade embargo against President Fidel Castro's  government. [more]