HAVANA - President Fidel Castro announced in a speech broadcast Saturday that a new crude oil deposit was discovered off the island's northern coast, good news for a small, struggling country that imports about half the petroleum it needs.
"This is the first discovery since 1999," Castro said in a Friday speech to the National Assembly that was aired on state television on Saturday. He said the deposit off the coast of Santa Cruz del Norte, east of Havana and about 90 miles south of Key West, Florida, could ultimately yield up to 100 million barrels of crude.
The second and last day of the National Assembly's final meeting of the year was closed to international media on Friday.
The full economic benefits of such a discovery are not likely to be felt for several years. But long term, the discovery would make communist Cuba more self-sufficient in its energy needs.
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