OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION IN CUBA

Oil and gas exploration in Cuba began with the discovery of the Motembo oilfield in 1881, and some 25 oilfields have subsequently been discovered, the largest of which are Boca de Jaruco and Varadero. Two oil-bearing provinces are known: the Northern Cuban Province, which includes the overthrust belt; and the Southern Cuban Province, to the south of the overthrust belt, which includes a number of Cretaceous-Tertiary basins. Rocks in the overthrust belt are intensely faulted and folded, with folds trending NE in western Cuba and NW elsewhere on the island. The Northern Cuban Province is about 1,000-kms long and 80- to 100-kms wide; sediments here are generally 10- to 12-kms thick. Seven overthrust surfaces have been identified by drilling, and correspond to different oil zones; thus, oilfields are characteristically located within different tectonic-stratigraphic units. The Southern Cuban Province covers an area of about 60,000 sq. kms, and is composed of several basins, whose development was different from those to the north. Oil has been located in the Central Basin, where oilfields are present in positive structures, but not so far in any other basins here, although surface and subsurface oil seeps are common in this area.