Congressman
John E. Peterson

Don't look now, but Cuba's drilling program is right behind you

By Congressman John E. Peterson
April 2006

American lawmakers aren't the only ones who, because of spiraling oil and gas prices and an unstable commodities market, have been studying the possibility of producing more domestic energy as of late. A certain bearded autocrat by the name of Fidel has also taken an interest, and his ambitions will, in a surprisingly short period of time, bring the Cuban drilling program much closer to the Florida coast than you can possibly believe.

Who can blame him? Castro has for years looked for new opportunities to develop his economy in the face of our trade embargo, and he could only reasonably expect to rely on Hugo Chavez's oil and gas giveaway for so long. So, with the intention of claiming billions in new revenues and lessening his country's dependence on foreign energy, Castro has taken to the high seas in an effort to acquire and produce as much oil and gas as he can.

But there's a rub: Cuba has neither the capacity nor the technical capability to produce this energy by itself. So Castro called in the ringers, contractors from Canada, Spain, Norway - even China - to do for him what he and his country cannot do for themselves. 

And not only has Cuba convened its own little model UN to help get at vital and abundant supplies of offshore energy, it has chosen tracts of real estate in the southern Gulf as close as 45 miles from Florida. Forty-five miles is just a bit farther than the distance between the University of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. From what I understand of the traffic in the area, paddling to Havana might even be a quicker trip.

Imagine what Castro’s thinking right now as we spend our time quarrelling over whether we should produce American energy 100, 150, or 250 miles from the Florida coast, while he makes arrangements to set up shop hundreds of miles closer. He must be laughing. He must love that we've allowed emotion to win out over reason, facts to be dwarfed by fear, and our nation's energy policy to be driven by antiquated environmental concerns.

U.S. Rep. John E. Peterson, a five-term Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, serves on both the House Resources Committee and the House Committee on Appropriations.