Friday, November 20, 1998; 9:45 a.m. EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Petroleos Brasileros has signed a six-year agreement to explore for oil in Cuba, the Cuban government's Prensa Latina news agency reported Friday.

Cuban President Fidel Castro attended the signing of the agreement between Petrobras, a major Brazilian oil company, and Cuba's state oil company.

Under the agreement, Petrobras is to make new geological studies, review old ones and drill at least one exploration well.

Prensa Latina said that about a dozen European and Canadian companies are involved in oil exploration in Cuba, which has made a priority of increasing oil output because economic difficulties have forced it to slash imports in recent years.

Cuba's oil industry expects to near production of 1.5 million tons of oil this year. The heavy crude found far is used largely for power generation.