ABOVE: On-shore Cuban oil
rig

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An article in the National Journal reveals that OFAC recently granted a license to permit the International Association of Drilling Contractors to send a U.S. delegation to Cuba to train the Cubans on proper off-shore drilling techniques. The exception to the embargo was prompted by concerns that an oil spill by the Cubans could be carried by currents in the Gulf of Mexico to U.S. waters and the U.S. coastline. The same request by IADC had been denied in December by OFAC, but recent events obviously led to a change of heart by the agency. The thinking, of course, was that since the Cubans are going to drill in any event, we ought to do our best to prevent collateral damage when they botch things up.

The same concerns motivated a provision in the Domestic Energy Security Act which would have amended the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (“TSRA”) to permit U.S. companies to drill in Cuban coastal waters. That legislative proposal is now pretty much dead on arrival given that it is unlikely that anyone will think it is a good idea to ban U.S. companies from drilling anywhere in the Gulf except for off the coast of Cuba.

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