At least one Cuban official will participate in an oil safety conference sponsored by the Houston-based International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) this month.
Fidel llizastegui Pérez, a process safety and risk management specialist with Cuba’s Office for Environment and Nuclear Safety Regulation (ORASEN), is scheduled to speak about blowout prevention, spill response, containment and cleanup at the 2011 IADC Environmental Conference & Exhibition, in Trinidad & Tobago May 12-13.
The Cuban participation comes amid rising concerns in the United States about the planned arrival of a deepwater drilling platform in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico this summer. A consortium led by Spain’s Repsol YPF is expected to begin exploratory drilling by October at latest.
Even though the meeting will be held in a third country, the IADC sought approval from the Office of Foreign Assets Control and State Department for Ilizastegui’s participation. In an indirect expression of its willingness to let Cuba access resources for international best practices in deepwater drilling, the Obama Administration on April 29 granted IADC a license for the participation of Cuban experts.
That license would allow to host more representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Basic Industries, the Ministry of State Affairs and state oil company CubaPetróleo, IADC President Lee Hunt told Platts Commodity News. “This simply invites the Cuban regulators to take part in an industry forum with worldwide experts with knowledge of best practices, safe practices,” Hunt said, according to Platts.
Hunt briefed U.S. regulator Michael Bromwich, director of the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, about the Cuban participation, according to Platts.
“The granting of a license by OFAC for Cuban officials is very good news,” said Jorge Piñón, an independent oil consultant based in Miami. “It’s about time for both sides to meet face to face and discuss best practices. Hopefully, the next get-together will take place in Houston.”
On April 14, at the invitation of U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, energy ministers and senior government and oil company officials from 13 countries and the European Union met in Washington to talk about oil drilling safety standards, but Cuba was not invited. Both Salazar and Bromwich have expressed concern over Cuban drilling.
ORASEN requires oil companies to use IADC Global Safety Case Guidelines for deepwater drilling operations. The Cuban regulators also recently issued a resolution that requires oil companies and drilling contractors to produce a “safety case addendum” about well design and construction aspects of their drilling operation, according to the IADC. The Cuban addendum is similar to a standard recently developed by U.S. regulators.
Other speakers at the forum about drilling in Cuba include Alan Spackman, IADC vice president for Offshore Technical and Regulatory Affairs; Dan Whittle, senior attorney and director of the Raleigh, N.C.-based Cuba Program Environmental Defense Fund; and Jorge Piñón, a Miami-based independent oil consultant and columnist for Cuba Standard.
During a visit to Havana last August, an IADC delegation was briefed about Cuban safety standards and procedures.
