A Russian oil tanker sanctioned by the United States will arrive in Cuba on Tuesday and the government must define who has priority to use the crude oil

He Anatoly Kolodkinwhich transports 730,000 barrels of crude oil, advanced northeast of Cuba on Sunday, according to the maritime tracker MarineTraffic.

The tanker, which sails at 12 knots, is now scheduled to arrive at the western port of Matanzas on Tuesday. It was previously expected to arrive on Monday.

I would be the first shipment of oil to arrive on the island since January and would provide temporary relief to a country of 9.6 million inhabitants that is going through an increasingly deep energy and economic crisis.

The communist island lost its main regional ally and oil supplier in January, Venezuelawhen US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro.

Later, the American president Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sent oil to Cuba and even has suggested the possibility of “taking” the island.

He renewed his threats on Friday, stating that “Cuba is next” at an investment forum in Miami.

Jorge Piñón, an expert in Cuba’s energy sector at the University of Austin, in Texas, expressed his surprise that the United States did not try to intercept the ship Russian tanker before it got so close to Cuba.

“I think at this point the chances of the United States trying to stop him have pretty much disappeared,” declared Piñon to the AFP.

Once the ship enters Cuban waters “It will be almost impossible for the US government to stop him”he pointed out.

Citing an anonymous US official briefed on the matter, The New York Times He noted that the United States Coast Guard allowed the tanker to advance to Cuba.

The US Coast Guard did not respond to a request for comment from the AFP.

The Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canelhas imposed emergency measures, including a Strict gasoline rationing.

He warned this month that “any external aggressor will be met with unbreakable resistance.”

Fuel prices have skyrocketed, public transportation has been drastically reduced and some airlines have suspended flights to Cuba.

The country suffered seven nationwide blackouts since the beginning of 2024, two of them occurred this month, which have caused unusual protests.

In the last week, a humanitarian aid convoy brought to Cuba, by air and sea, more than 50 tons of medicine, food, solar panels and other goods, and on Saturday two sailboats made the last shipments from Mexico.

The Anatoly Kolodkin, who is under US sanctions, loaded oil at the Russian port of Primorsk on 8 March.

Was escorted by a Russian Navy ship across the English Channel; However, the two vessels separated once the tanker entered the Atlantic Ocean, the Royal Navy reported.

Another ship reportedly carrying Russian diesel to Cuba – the Hong Kong-flagged “Sea Horse” – instead arrived in Venezuela earlier this week.

Once the crude oil from Anatoly Kolodkin reaches Cuba, It would take 15 to 20 days to process the oil and another 5 to 10 days to distribute its refined products, Piñon pointed out.

“The urgent need today in Cuba is diesel,” said the former oil sector executive.

Russian cargo could become 250,000 barrels of dieselsufficient quantity to cover the country’s demand for about 12.5 days, according to Piñon.

He said the government would have to decide whether to allocate the fuel to backup electric generators or to the buses, tractors and trains needed to keep the economy going for two weeks.

“If I were Díaz-Canel, or the person in charge of making the decision, I would ask myself: ‘Well, where do I direct this diesel?’“, assured Piñón.

“Do I want to generate more electricity so there are fewer blackouts? Or do I prefer to allocate it to the transportation sector?”