Russian oil returns to Cuba after a year

Cuban state media said over the weekend that 90,000 tons of oil and russian fuel They had come to the country to help alleviate power outages and gasoline shortages.

In 2022, Russia resumed some oil shipments to the Caribbean island, after they ceased with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

However, according to shipping data, there was no Russian oil leaving for Cuba last year, despite the fact that Russian media reported in June that an agreement had been reached between the two governments to supply 1.64 million tons of oil and derivatives per year.

Jorge Piñon, that studies Cuba’s infrastructure and energy supply in the University of Texas at Austin, estimated the value of the shipment at $46 million. Piñon said it was too early to know whether the arrival of oil means regular shipments will resume.

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Already at the dock of the Supertanker base #Matanzas ship with more than 90 thousand tons of Russian oil.
pic.twitter.com/Q1dcb28jb0

— Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba (@EnergiaMinasCub) March 30, 2024

According to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, Cuba needs 8 million tons of crude oil and equivalents annually, of which 3 million are produced locally.

Venezuela is the main Cuban oil supplier, but shipments have decreased in recent years. Last year Mexico exported significant quantities of crude oil to Cubabut he hasn’t done it this year.

Cuba has been mired in a crisis since the beginning of the decade, with a decrease in the Gross Domestic Product of 10% compared to 2019, which has caused a shortage of food, medicine and other basic goods.

Fuel consumption has been around 6.5 million tonnes during this period, according to the Government, which has said that so far this year fuel imports have fallen further, with longer blackouts and less fuel at gas stations.

The increase in social tension has caused more unrest than has been seen on the island since the revolution of 1959 and massive emigration, mainly to the United States.

Cuba’s communist government largely blames U.S. sanctions for the crisis and U.S. subversion for the unrest, accusations Washington denies.

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