Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba increase in May

During the month of MayCuba imported about 58,100 barrels per day (bpd) from its ally Venezuela, a figure that increased by 30 percent compared to April and reached the monthly global figure of 1,743,000 bpd.

The Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA) increased its deliveries of crude oil and fuel to its political ally Cuba, according to data and internal company documents consulted by the agency.Reuters.

While in April the fuel arriving from that country reached figures of 45,250 bpd, in May Cuban imports rose 30 percent to reach 58,100 bpd, a figure that does not cover the country's usual demand before the coronavirus pandemic. .

Cuba needs Venezuelan fuel shipments to cover more than half of its demand, whichBefore the pandemic it reached 137 thousand bpd of fuel oil, diesel, gasoline and other refined products, according to the Cuban National Statistics Office.

Betweenthe worst fuel crisis experienced in the country, the Cuban government sees how the supplies from its political ally are not enough to meet the needs of the economy and the population, causing damage to agriculture, transportation and electricity generation in the country.

After a time of instability in supply, with pauses that lasted seven months in 2022, PDVSA resumed its commitments to Cuba, although at lower levels than in other years.

Affected by a 14% drop in its exports, the Venezuelan state company nevertheless managed to increase its shipments to the island.

PDVSA is under a sweeping anti-corruption investigation that uncovered billions of dollars in unpaid shipments and led to the temporary suspension of some contracts. The investigation has led to the arrest of more than 60 people and a management review. However, the situation does not seem to affect the Havana-Caracas agreements.

In February, the Cuban deputy prime minister,Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, traveled to Venezuela to review the cooperation between both countries, after the reduction of oil shipments in the first month of 2023.

Both countries have had 22 years of strategic cooperation, after the so-called Cuba-Venezuela Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, signed byFidel Castro andHugo Chavez in 2000, and which was updated last November by Valdés Menéndez himself in Caracas.

In the first month of 2023, 1.23 million barrels or 39,775 barrels per day of crude oil, fuel oil and other refined products arrived on the island, below the 57,500 bpd in December.

Venezuelan crude oil exports fell in January, following the decision of the executive president of Venezuela's state oil monopoly (PDVSA),Pedro Tellechea, to freeze most shipments (except Cuba and the United States) pending the review of the contracts.

In March it was known that Caracas would send about 30 million more than in January,reaching 1.53 million barrels of crude oilAs the agency learnedReuters from internal documents of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela.

In recent months, according tonews.eseuro.com, activity has intensified in Cuban ports, especially with the arrival of several ships and strategic deployments to unload fuel as soon as possible.

According to the aforementioned media, in the midst of the economic crisis and with the shortage of oil and its derivatives, the destination of these products is defined as soon as they arrive at port.

The port of Cienfuegos is one of the most used to unload Venezuelan crude oil. In recent weeks, the Cuban-flagged oil tanker Vilma stopped there. The ships Alicia, Sandino, Delsa, Pastorita, Marianna VV, Calipso and Caribbean Alliance did the same.

All of these vessels have sailed in Cuban waters and have arrived at several ports in the country in recent months with Venezuelan crude oil. According tonews.eseuro.comLast Friday, the oil tanker Nicos, flying the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, also from Venezuela, anchored in the port of Santiago de Cuba last Friday.