Posted on 03/31/2026 10:06:27 PM PDT by Cronos
A Russia-flagged tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of oil has docked in Cuba, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker has reached the island nation.
...The Anatoly Kolodkin entered the Bay of Matanzas under clear skies and light winds at sunrise. Much of the nearby city – and the majority of Cuba – was without power when the tanker arrived at the port area.
Cuba has not received an oil tanker in three months, according to President Miguel Diaz-Canel, exacerbating an energy crisis that has led to seemingly endless blackouts across the country of 10 million people and brought hospitals, public transportation, and farm production to the brink of collapse.
Cubans, including Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy, cheered the ship’s arrival. A shortage of petroleum has exacerbated a deep economic crisis, leaving the population mired in long blackouts and facing severe shortages of food and medicine.
“Our gratitude to the Government and People of Russia for all the support we are receiving. A valuable shipment that arrives amidst the complex energy situation we are facing,” de la O Levy wrote on X.
The ship is carrying Russian Urals, a medium sour crude, which is a good fit for Cuba’s ageing refineries.
Cuba produces barely 40 percent of its required fuel and relies on imports to sustain its energy grid. Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days
(Excerpt) Read more at aljazeera.com ...
Is Cuba paying for it or are the Russians losing money in this trade?
No, Cuba is not paying for it. Moscow is “donating “ the oil.
Russian officials, including Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, explicitly stated the fuel is being supplied as humanitarian aid to support life-support systems, hospitals, and electricity generation.
the estimated market value is approximately $84 million for the cargo
>>enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days
or 1 day if the code pinkos throw another solidarity rave and overload the grid again.
10 days? Not exactly a lifeline... That siad it’s ok with me. For now.
Y’all know we let it in.
We don’t want Cubans to die just the Socialist Commie ones.
but in their system that is probably who will get the oil.
I wonder:
1. Where did Moscow get the money to do this
2. How are they justifying it to their own population when they have put constraints on their own local economy
“...A lifeline from Moscow...”
No, a lifeline from the US. They would have been stopped if the US had wanted them to be but Trump allowed it to reach the Island.
“President Donald Trump is allowing a Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba for “humanitarian reasons,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, insisting that it did not amount to a shift in U.S. policy.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/russian-tanker-cuba-blockade-humanitarian-00850838
Russia did some business that Trump allowed.
wy69
But Cuba ain’t paying for it - they don’t have the cash
Trump jacking up the price of oil by killing Iranians has been very good for Russia’s coffers.
“I wonder:
1. Where did Moscow get the money to do this
2. How are they justifying it to their own population when they have put constraints on their own local economy”
Cognitive bias is using a known reference frame to make assumptions for a system that exists outside that reference frame. In America, the decisions must be made generally keeping in mind how the people who elected the decision makers are going to perceive the outcome of that decision. In a totalitarian system, the decision maker doesn’t care what the people under him think, or feel, or want. It’s whatever the decision maker thinks, feels, or wants.
“Cuba produces 40 percent of its required fuel”
I did not know that they had any oil.
I try to learn something new everyday.
“Trump jacking up the price of oil by killing Iranians has been very good for Russia’s coffers.”
Miss the point much?
Surprised Fiddel didn’t drill up Cuba’s oil properties and install a refinery. What a dumba$$.
One ship-10 days. Not much going on if it lasts that long.
I guess you do.
False headline.
Cuba is not blockaded.
It’s broke from 60 years of Communism. They simply have nothing left to trade for oil
They are paupers. Dependent upon the charity of other KGB regimes.
The nation is thoroughly plundered. Communism has been successful doing what it is designed to do.
Everyday Russia sells oil to India and China.
China buys it for their own domestic consumption.
India buys as much of it that they can refine.
That is because when Russia invaded Ukraine the rest of the world either embargoed their products(oil, vodka, etc) and added a 30% or more tariff on Russian products.
The Chinese and Indians are buying the crude at a big discount to the Brent Sea crude spot price. I BELIEVE it was either 30% off BSC or $30/bbl off BSC.
This means India could not only buy all their domestic needs but refine diesel and other products and sell it at a huge profit. Probably to other countries that had embargoed the Russian crude.
In addition, when there is the potential to make a lot of money people will take a chance and cheat. Like buying Russian oil and then blending it with oil from a non embargoed source. They selling it to some other countries refinery at a discount to the market. Again, probably a country that embargoed that Russian oil.
OR transloading the oil from one tanker to another and changing the Bill of Lading where that oil came from.
The profit of buying oil at this large of a discount for a fungible commodity like oil is MILLIONS of dollars every day.
Also, Russian is not selling this oil necessarily in USA DOLLARS. It may be traded in Rubles, EUROS, JUAN.
There is oil in the Gulf near Cuba. Especially between Cuba and Florida. Florida has not wanted to drill in that area because the fear that an oil spill would crush tourism if oil started floating up in the Keys/Miami.
Tourism is Florida’s largest revenue source.
What is a Jewish woman’s favorite WINE?
I want to go to Miami.
Moscow is playing with phony money just like the US doing. The number that comes immediately after a trillion is a quadrillion, yes I believe we will see a quadrillion in worldwide debt before we die.
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