Cuba sees short-term relief as Russian oil begins to flow

Posted by Naurgul@reddit | anime_titties | View on Reddit | 33 comments

Cubans this week began to reap the benefits of a recent 100,000 metric ton ​delivery of Russian oil, a temporary lifeline for the energy-starved nation and the first major shipment of oil ‌to the island since the United States moved to cut off its fuel early this year.

The Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin tanker offloaded some 700,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude in late March at Cuba's Matanzas Bay, challenging the U.S. blockade. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump said it allowed the tanker to ​deliver the oil for "humanitarian" reasons.

Many Cubans said they began ⁠to feel real relief this week as blackouts fell dramatically in some areas following nearly four months of hours-long rolling outages ​that have left the island's population of 10 million people exhausted.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy warned on state-run television late on Wednesday that the relief would be short-lived.

"It's not ​going to buy us too much time," said de la O Levy, who added the country would need eight similarly sized boats each month ‌to meet ⁠the country's generation and industrial needs. "What we've got left (of the Russian fuel delivery) is just a few days' worth, until the end of the month."

Russia has said it is preparing another delivery of fuel to long-time ally Cuba but has yet to dispatch the shipment.