of Drilling Contractors and the Environmental Defense Fund, is on a fact-finding mission to determine the country's long-term plans for pursuing its oil resources and identify steps to ensure safety and environmental protection. They're scheduled to depart Monday. The process of oil drilling in thousands of feet of water is "inherently risky," said Daniel Whittle, Cuba program director at the Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the delegation. "We believe it's imperative that if and when Cuba drills, they get it right." Reilly, as co-head of President Barack Obama's oil-spill commission, helped to draft a report earlier this year that recommended U.S. officials work with Cuba and Mexico to develop shared standards for drilling in the Gulf. The oil-spill commission ceased operations in March after completing its work. Cuba's effort to promote drilling in its waters is presenting a thorny situation for U.S. lawmakers, regulators and companies. Among the loudest critics of Cuba's plans are Gulf Coast lawmakers who are raising questions about the country's ability to respond to oil spills and the risks of crude oil washing on U.S. shores. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican whose district faces the Gulf of Mexico, introduced a bill earlier this year to allow the Interior Secretary to deny U.S. oil exploration and development leases to companies that do business with Cuba. "The United States is not going to see a drop of that oil," said Max Goodman, a spokesman for Buchanan. "And we have learned from Deepwater Horizon that an oil spill can devastate a regional economy and pose long-term damage to our natural resources." Repsol will be drilling in waters that are deeper than those in which the Deepwater Horizon rig operated at the time it exploded last year. Repsol will be using a Chinese-built drilling rig that only recently left Singapore for Cuban waters. The rig is expected to arrive in November or December. The rig, known as Scarabeo 9, was built to conform with the U.S. embargo and Repsol has said it will be following U.S. safety standards, Repsol representative Kristian Rix said. "We are confident that we have the right personnel and materials to drill safely and successfully in the area," Rix said. If oil is discovered, Cuba has a greater chance of becoming less dependent on Venezuela for i