New guidelines issued for travel to Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Jane Engle Los Angeles Times Staff Writer. April 21, 2011, 10:24 a.m.The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday issued new guidelines for travel to Cuba, more than three months after President Obama announced he would loosen restrictions that bar most Americans from legally visiting the Communist island.The action frees up U.S. organizations to apply for new licenses to organize Cuba trips and also clarifies which U.S. citizens may travel to Cuba without applying for a Treasury Department license. Most Americans, however, are still barred from legally visiting Cuba, except for specific purposes that are outlined in the guidelines. Read More

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Offshore rig could begin drilling by October

<p style="text-align: justify;">Construction of the Scarabeo 9 platform in Singapore will be completed by the end of June, Saipem SpA, the oil services company that owns the deep-sea drilling rig, said in its first-quarter report.Assuming the semi-submersible leaves July 1 and an anticipated 60- to 80-day transit, it should arrive in Cuban waters by September. Scarabeo 9 could then begin drilling for a consortium led by Repsol YPF “sometime in October, worst-case and no weather- or other related delays,” said Jorge Piñón, a Miami-based oil industry expert. Read More

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