In 2011, members of the Obama administration kept watch over the offshore drilling projects of Cuba out of concern that an oil spill could threaten America's coast, though they were limited in their surveillance due to the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Murkowski warned against focusing on Cuba, calling it "a reality that you’ve got exploration going all around the globe offshore" while speaking with reporters: "It’s not just Cuba. It’s Mexico; it’s Jamaica; it’s the Bahamas; it’s Canada; it’s Russia; it’s everybody that has water around their nation that is looking to explore and produce. The focus was Cuba. But I’m not going to get hung up on whether we need to now lift the embargoes against Cuba."
