Madrid/Fuel shipments to Cuba by Venezuela increased considerably in the month of May compared to the previous month. According to the usual Reuters report, deliveries to the Island became around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared to 23,000 bpd in April, three times more.
This amount represents 10% of Venezuela’s total crude oil and fuel exports, which reached about 708,900 bpd. In addition, 614,000 tons of petrochemicals and derivatives left Venezuelan waters in May in 50 vessels, Reuters details based on internal documents from the Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA and data from the financial company London Stock Exchange Group. This represents 30% more than in April and 7% more than in the same month of the previous year, in terms of fuel, and the record of the last 13 months in terms of petrochemicals and oil byproducts.
The main destination of crude oil, more than a third of total exports (250,000 bpd), was Asia. They are followed by the United States, with an average of 205,000 bpd sent by the American Chevron, and Europe, with 129,000 bpd.
Washington gave companies until the end of May to complete transactions, including crude and fuel sales.
In April, the British agency recalls, the US Treasury Department announced the reestablishment of sanctions and did not renew the license that allowed Venezuela to freely export its oil. However, Washington gave companies until the end of May to complete transactions, including sales of crude oil and fuel, which explains the increase in exports last month.
In addition, since mid-April it has granted individual licenses to energy companies that did business with Venezuela. This is the case of the French Maurel & Prom, the Spanish Repsol and the British BP.
The fuel figure in April from Caracas to Havana provided - represents a slightly lower load than that reported by University of Texas researcher Jorge Piñón, who had calculated that the Island received, in three tankers, a total of about 840,000 barrels of oil, an average of 28,000 bpd. In any case, the substantial drop in deliveries caused shortages at gas stations and, with it, the reappearance of queues.
Following the ship monitoring pages, the only ship documented by Piñón during the month of May, refers to 14 and a half, was the Alicia, which was loaded on the 23rd in Amuay. More strange is, for the specialist, what happened with the Eco Fleetwhich unloaded the oil it was carrying, some 274,000 barrels, in Cienfuegos on the night of June 1.
The tanker, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, had loaded in early February in the Tunisian port of Skhira and arrived in Cuban waters in early March. The Minister of Energy and Mines himself, Vicente de la O Levy, announced its imminent unloading on March 13: “In the next few days a ship will arrive in the country with 40,000 tons of diesel, of which 1,100 tons per day will be dedicated to generation and a part to economic activity”.
On April 14, after more than a month off Havana, she made a two-day voyage to Jamaica and returned to Cuba unchanged from her original draft. Why did it take her more than 70 days to download?, Piñón asks. “Non-payment? Quality problems? “You must have an incredible bill for your stay.”
In any case, the increase in Venezuelan shipments, the arrival of the Eco Fleet and the next delivery of crude oil from the Mexican port of Pajaritos, where the tanker is being loaded Vilma They will give Cubans a break in the coming weeks.
