From The Washington Post:Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, an end to the 1962 U.S. trade embargo against Cuba may be lying untapped, buried under layers of rock, seawater and bitter relations.
Oil, up to 20 billion barrels of it, sits off Cuba's northwest coast in territorial waters, according to the Cuban government -- enough to turn the island into the Qatar of the Caribbean. At a minimum, estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey place Cuba's potential deep-water reserves at 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, stores that would rank the island among the region's top producers.
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My Comment: The Washington Post is typically looking at the situation with rose color glasses. Before trade relations can be significantly opened up between the U.S. and Cuba, and number of legal and court issues will need to be addressed first.
Millions of Cuban Americans whose families were forced to flee Cuba lost their homes, businesses, monies, and wealth .... all confiscated by members of the Communist Party in Cuba. The legal obstacles are huge, and the liabilities for those who decide to get involved are just as equally huge as long as these issues are not solved.
As long as the Cuban Government refuses to address the wrongs that have been committed on millions of their countrymen .... open trade and economic ties between the United States and Cuba is not going to happen.
On a side note .... Cuba also has a terrible history in paying its bills. In Canada, many companies that do business with Cuba are guaranteed through an agency that we call the Export Development Agency that insures business transactions. If this Agency did not exist .... most companies would not touch Cuba with a ten foot pole.