U.S. say oil rig bound for Cuban waters looks good

* Drilling rig found to "generally comply" with standards

* Inspection aimed at allaying U.S. environmental worries

* Cuba says may have 20 billion barrels of oil

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A Chinese-built drilling rig to be used in the first major exploration for oil in Cuba's offshore waters looks good to go, U.S. officials said on Monday after a safety inspection of the massive platform docked in Trinidad and Tobago.

The rig, known as the Scarabeo 9, was found to "generally comply with existing international and U.S. standards" by which its operator, Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF, "has pledged to abide," the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, said in a news release out of Washington.

Personnel from the BSEE, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted the inspection at the invitation of Repsol, which is trying to defuse U.S. opposition to the Cuba drilling.

Cuba has said it may have 20 billion barrels of oil in its part of the Gulf of Mexico, but the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated about 5 billion.