Cuba and China go for oil

The enviros were screaming their heads off about drilling in ANWAR. Where are they now -- from the St. Petersburg Times:

Cuba seeks oil near Keys
Few Americans paid much attention last year when Cuban President Fidel Castro announced China would help explore potentially large oil reserves off Cuba's northwest coast - not far from the Florida Keys.

But now - with gas prices climbing above $3 a gallon - the prospect of China drilling near the United States has become a hot political issue as two of the world's largest economies vie for new sources of energy.

Some members of Congress warn that China and other countries could lock up oil supplies at a time when U.S. companies are barred from doing business with Cuba because of a 43-year-old trade embargo.

"We sit here watching China exploit a valuable energy resource within eyesight of the U.S. coast," said. Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican.

"I think the American public would be shocked - as this country is trying to reduce dependence on Middle East oil - that countries like China are realizing this energy resource."

But Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, worried that a Cuban oil spill could hurt the state's environment and $50-billion tourism industry, wants to block drilling in Cuba's northern waters.

"Any oil spill 45 miles from Key West is going to absolutely devastate all those delicate coral reefs, the fragile Florida Keys, and would endanger pristine beaches all the way up to Fort Pierce," said Nelson, a Democrat.

Cuba pumps about 80,000 barrels of oil a day in Havana and Matanzas provinces, but it is of poor quality and meets less than half of the country's needs.

Thus there has been considerable excitement about fields off the northwest Cuban coast that could contain 4.5-billion to 9-billion barrels of oil - almost as much as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

In February 2005, Castro announced that huge Chinese drilling rigs would be used to further explore areas in which a Spanish company had reported promising results. The Cuban government also signed a contract with China's oil and gas company, Sinopec, to work in areas around the island thought to contain oil deposits.

And more on Sen. Nelson:

Apart from environmental concerns, Nelson argues that there isn't enough oil in either Cuban or U.S. gulf waters to long satisfy Americans' voracious appetite for oil.

The United States, which consumes 25 percent of the world's oil yet has just 3 percent of its reserves, would be better served by immediately developing alternate energy sources like ethanol, made from corn or sugar cane, Nelson said.

Emphasis mine -- a true Barking Moonbat -- the number is more like 14% for global oil consumption (2004 figures)... And the figure to watch is consumption V/S productivity not consumption V/S/ population. We may drink more than "our share" at the global tap but we are paying full market price for it and we are doing more with it. Petroleum is a fungible resource -- anyone can buy it -- our consumption is not blocking anyone else from using it, witness China for example.