Fresh delay for Scarabeo-9

epa01081387 A man sits in a street, in Havana adorned with Cuban flags, 31 July 2007, Havana, Cuba, one year after Cuban Leader, Fidel Castro, informed on his illness and delegated power over to his brother Raul. EPA/Alejandro Ernesto

Waiting on delivery: Cuba

Alejandro Ernesto

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By News wires & Upstream staff

 10 January 2011 03:50 GMT

The arrival of Chinese-built semi-submersible drilling rig Scarabeo-9 in Cuban waters has been delayed until at least the second quarter of the year, according to reports.

Sources told Reuters construction of the rig was progressing more slowly than planned, with the newbuild not likely to arrive in Cuba until late June or early July.

As Upstream reported last week, the semisub has been towed from China’s CIMC Raffles yard to Singapore’s Keppel Fels for completion, at an additional cost of between $70 million and $100 million.

A number of international explorers, including Spain's Repsol YPF, are eager to explore Cuba's offshore play.

Havana has claimed it may be sitting on as much as 20 billion barrels of oil. The…

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