Russia to Send Oil to Crisis-Stricken Cuba
Russia plans to send soon oil and oil products to Cuba as part of humanitarian aid, the Russian embassy in Cuba told Russian media on Thursday.
Cuba’s worsening economic and humanitarian situation has gone from bad to worse in recent weeks as the U.S., which now controls Venezuela’s oil sales, is banning shipments to Cuba.
U.S. President Donald Trump in late January signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency and establishing a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba. This is to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s malign actions and policies, according to the Executive Order.
The Executive Order “imposes a new tariff system that allows the United States to impose additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly provides oil to Cuba.”
Russia is unfazed and doesn’t want to cut ties with Cuba, a friendly country according to Moscow’s classification. Venezuela was also among these, until U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro in early January and took control over the country’s oil sales.
“In the near future, it is planned to deliver oil and oil products to Cuba as humanitarian aid,” the Russian embassy in Cuba told Russia’s daily Izvestia.
At the same time, the Russian ministry of economic development has recommended that Russians refrain from traveling to Cuba amid the “fuel emergency” in the Caribbean country.
Earlier this week, Canadian airlines suspended flights to Cuba as the island nation faces depletion in jet fuel stocks amid the U.S. energy squeeze aimed at prompting regime change.
Cuba did not receive any oil imports from anywhere in January, Bloomberg has reported citing Kpler data. Cuba’s biggest oil suppliers have traditionally been Venezuela and Mexico, with Venezuela the biggest, but after the effective U.S. takeover of Venezuela’s oil industry those supplies dried up.
Now, after Trump put pressure on Mexico to stop shipping fuel to the heavily sanctioned island, Cuba has no immediate alternatives although Russia has signaled it planned to continue supplying fuel there.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Cuba’s Energy Crisis Deepens Amid U.S. Tariffs
- U.S. tariff threats and sanctions have curtailed oil shipments from Venezuela and Mexico, tightening Cuba’s fuel supply.
- Rolling blackouts, hospital disruptions, and suspended airline refueling highlight the severity of the island’s energy shortage.
- The government is rationing fuel, cutting transport and tourism operations, and seeking alternative supply sources to prevent collapse.
Cubans are struggling with blackouts and fuel rationing amid President Trump’s campaign to provoke regime change by choking off the energy supply of the island nation, which is heavily dependent on fuel imports.
Trump last month threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba, labelling the island “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security. He noted the Cuban government’s relations with Russia, China, and Iran as evidence of that threat, which, Trump suggested, would present as “migration and violence.”
The island’s biggest oil supplier was out of the picture already, since that was Venezuela, and the United States effectively took control of the country’s oil industry following the ousting of President Nicolas Maduro.
Cuba’s second-largest oil supplier, Mexico, initially took a tough stance, with President Claudia Scheinbaum saying the country would continue supplying oil to Cuba because “It’s not right. They don’t have fuel for hospitals or schools. The people are suffering.” However, Kpler data shows that no oil cargoes arrived at Cuban ports in January. Indeed, earlier this week, President Scheinbaum said Mexican oil shipments to Cuba were suspended as the country’s government looked for ways to provide fuel for the island without triggering Trump’s wrath and tariffs.
Russia has said it would continue supplying oil to Cuba, but it would take a while for any evidence to emerge of this. Meanwhile, airlines are starting to suspend flights to Cuba because of jet fuel scarcity.
Air Canada was the first to issue a warning about flights to Cuba, followed by two more Canadian airlines. The Cuban Aviation Corporation confirmed the shortage, saying it would suspend refueling services for aircraft for a month. Yet air transport is only one aspect of Cuba’s energy crisis.
Time reported this week that the tight fuel supplies are causing rolling blackouts and affecting hospitals. The publication cited Cuban media as reporting that some medical facilities had had to cancel surgeries and outpatient transfers. Shortages of medical supplies and even antibiotics are also being reported.
France 24, meanwhile, reports that Cubans are turning to charcoal for cooking and to solar panels for electricity generation, even though both are quite expensive for the average Cuban. The Cuban government has responded to the oil blockade by reducing office hours and restricting fuel sales. The government is also closing tourism facilities and reducing transport between provinces, Al-Jazeera reports.
“Fuel will be used to protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities,” Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva said on Cuban state television. “This is an opportunity and a challenge that we have no doubt we will overcome. We are not going to collapse.”
Among the measures that the government is also taking is directing fuel supplies to food-producing regions and considering state support for solar power adoption. Those fuel supplies, however, will run out in less than a month, with Venezuelan and Mexican oil gone. Venezuela accounted for 33% of Cuba’s fuel imports last month, according to data cited by Al-Jazeera, while Mexico was the top supplier, with 44%. Russia supplied 10% of Cuba’s total fuel imports.
Demand for oil on the island, which has been under a total U.S. embargo since 1959, averages around 100,000 barrels daily. Cuba produces some oil, but it is not enough to meet its demand. With Venezuelan and Mexican oil gone, the risk of a total energy collapse in the country becomes a distinct possibility—either that or the government will give in to U.S. demands. For now, officials have not suggested this is an option and have instead called for dialogue.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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