Cuba announced a reform of its oil sector on Monday that introduces oil concessions for foreign investors and allows domestic private firms to take part in oil industry activities, energy ministry official Pedro Abigantus said, in rules aimed at progressively raising crude and natural gas output while keeping state control over oil resources. Foreign companies have worked in Cuban hydrocarbons since the early 1990s, but until now only through production-sharing contracts in joint ventures with the state.
The change sits inside the package of 176 market liberalisation reforms adopted in June and lands under acute pressure: Washington has applied an oil blockade since January as part of its maximum pressure policy, US purchases by Cuban private entrepreneurs approved since February cover only about 3 percent of national consumption needs on official figures, and Cuba produces about 40 percent of the oil it consumes, mainly to fuel the seven ageing thermoelectric plants that anchor its power system.