Venezuela’s PDVSA to search for oil off Cuba

Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA will prospect for, pump and refine oil from Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico economic zones, the company has announced. Spain’s Repsol-YPF, PDVSA and many of its rivals are looking for new oil fields around Cuba, one of the most under-exploited areas in the world. If they were to make a major find, or several significant ones, the shift could turn regional geopolitics upside down, potentially turning Castro’s cash-strapped, oil import-dependent regime into a prosperous oil exporter able to fund itself well into the future.