A U.S. move this week to seize an oil tanker out of Venezuela is poised to make a bad situation worse for a crisis-stricken Cuba already struggling to source enough oil to power its ailing economy and electrical grid.
The Communist-run nation, a nearby neighbor and long-time foe of the United States, suffers daily, hours-long rolling blackouts that have decimated productivity and tested the patience of its exhausted residents.
Cuba depends on Venezuela’s crude and refined products – transported to the island by small vessels and a shadow fleet of sanctioned tankers – for a large portion of its consumption, according to shipping data and analysts.
That supply chain could be severely curtailed if the single tanker seizure this week turns into a pattern of interceptions, coupled with more sanctions.
Washington, which on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on six Venezuela-related vessels, in coming weeks is planning more interceptions of tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, sources familiar with the matter said this week.
Between January and November, Venezuela sent 27,000 bpd of crude and fuel to Cuba, below the 32,000 bpd of last year, according to shipping data and internal documents from state oil company PDVSA.
That covers about 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit, or around one quarter of total demand, according to Jorge Pinon, who studies Cuba’s energy infrastructure at the University of Texas at Austin.
Without Venezuela’s contribution, Cuba’s oil imports, which have also been hit by lower supply from Mexico this year, would tumble, he said, leaving Cuba in dire straits.
“Now that Mexico is sending less oil and Russian supply in large quantities has not materialized, I just don’t see any other alternatives,” Pinon said. “Times are tough and are going to get tougher.”
The Cuban and Venezuelan governments and PDVSA did not reply to requests for comment on this story.
The U.S. action, as U.S. President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is putting many vessel owners, operators and shipping agencies on alert, and many are reconsidering whether to set sail from Venezuela in coming days as planned, sources have told Reuters.