Gazprom Neft takes 30 pct in Cuban shelf oil project

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of energy giant Gazprom, has bought a 30 percent stake in a project to develop four blocks on the Cuban shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, the company said on Monday. Gazprom Neft, Cuba's national oil company Cubapetroleo and Malaysia's oil and gas company Petronas signed a production sharing agreement for the project on July 29. Petronas owns 70 percent in the project, Gazprom Neft said in a statement. The project will be financed by the participants in proportion to their stakes. Manuel Marrero, a member of the Cuba Commission for the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Gulf of Mexico, said he hoped Gazprom Neft would increase its participation in the project after the discovery of the first oil, which may be drilled at the beginning of 2012. Gazprom Neft plans to produce about 10 percent of its overall hydrocarbon output abroad by 2020.