Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 40 2019

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil
Medvedev (L) and Diaz-Canel (R) held talks in Havana (Photo: Government.ru)
No short-term solutions for Cuban fuel shortages
Havana is feeling some relief following the arrival of eight Venezuelan tankers, but it cannot expect rescue from Caracas or Moscow
WHAT:
Venezuela has succeeded in delivering 3.83mn barrels of crude and fuel to Cuba.
WHY:
Caracas has few options for making regular shipments, and Moscow is not offering short-term relief.
WHAT NEXT:
Sanctions are likely to hinder future Venezuelan shipments, and Russian upstream projects will not come to fruition for several years..
CUBA has been experiencing serious fuel short- ages in recent months, and the supply situation recently reached a critical point.
On September 11, Cuba’s government said that it had not been able to procure enough gasoline, diesel and other petroleum prod- ucts to meet demand for the rest of the month. It imposed new austerity measures, such as encouraging travellers to use animal-powered vehicles, and blamed US sanctions on Venezuela for the crisis.
Havana’s criticism of US policy was not mis- placed. In its drive to penalise Caracas, Wash- ington has been discouraging investment in Venezuelan oil and gas projects.
Under the stricter sanctions regime imposed in January, it has sought to dissuade commod- ities traders, service companies, transport providers and other industry players from co-operating with Venezuela’s national oil com- pany (NOC) PdVSA. is has caused problems for Cuba, since PdVSA has for some time been
the main supplier of re ned fuels to the island state.
In early October, though, relief appeared to be in sight. Eight Venezuelan tankers arrived in Cuba, bringing enough crude oil and petroleum products to ease shortages and boost re nery runs.
e deliveries came around the same time that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev began a two-day visit to Cuba. During his time in the country, Medvedev visited a eld where Zarubezhneft, a state-owned Russian com- pany, is collaborating with the Cuban NOC, Cubapetroleo. He also spoke with President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other Cuban o cials about plans for improving energy e ciency and co-operating on additional oil development projects.
ese shows of support from two long-time
allies probably li ed the spirits of o cials in Havana. Even so, Cuba is probably heading for
more fuel shortages. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 40 10•October•2019