"The door to Cuba is now open" for U.S. companies to invest in Cuban energy companies, declared Kirby Jones, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association. The event, which took place on Thursday and Friday, was a complete success even though it was shortened from an original plan for three days due to U.S. government pressure, Jones said. On Saturday, Jones told a press conference that the sessions had allowed Cuba and the U.S. business community to make contact and exchange information. Raul Perez, deputy minister for basic industries in Cuba, told the same gathering that the conference had communicated Cuba's message to a wide range of U.S. energy companies, including Exxon Mobil and refining company Valero Energy. Jones said that U.S. companies could participate in the growth of the Cuban energy sector, which had already received 1.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of investment from the Cuban government and companies in Canada, Latin America and Europe. He also cautioned "it is impossible to say what will happen" to U.S. companies that take part in exploration, production, refining and distribution businesses in Cuba. Juan Fleites, vice-president of Cuba Petroleo, told reporters that Cuba plans to double the country's well-drilling capacity and add nearly 60 new deep water sites. Cuba already produces nearly half of the 160,000 barrels of oil it consumes every day. Three months ago, the country announced that it had found a deposit of 100,000 barrels. Meanwhile, U.S. media reported that a meeting between U.S. energy executives and Cuban government oil officials was forced out of a U.S.-owned hotel in Mexico City under pressure from Washington, in the latest sign that U.S. President George W. Bush's administration is tightening policy against Cuba. The meeting resumed later at the Mexican-owned Colon Mision Reforma Hotel, where about 35 participants discussed the merits of lifting decades-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. A leading Cuban newspaper, Juventud Rebelde, lambasted Washington's pressure on Sunday, saying "it is obvious that the Bush administration has taken a further step with this new provocation against Cuba." Washington maintains an embargo against Cuba for 46 years. But in 1999, it opened a legal window to allow U.S. business to sell agricultural produce to the Caribbean island. PIN/XINHUA