An Australian company, Meo Australia, may have found 8 billion barrels of oil in Cuba – and then again it may not have. Found in Motembo, the “potential” resource could sustain the country for roughly 7 years, but would not be available for extraction until 2018. It may be politically strategic, however, to begin receiving oil rents in 2018, because Raul Castro will leave power that year. The possibility of an oil reserve on Cuban soil would alleviate many of the urgent problems faced by the fledgling nation and sustain the political apparatus that is the legacy of the Castro brothers. The government has previously made claims on the discovery of crude, but did not follow up on them when investors failed to appear. Meo Australia has identified some “thrilling possibilities” but has yet to confirm its discovery.
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