PdV backpedals on Cuba fuel shipment

Venezuelan state-owned PdV is using the Cuban-flagged products tanker Maria Cristina as floating storage after shelving an earlier plan to ship some Iranian gasoline supply to Cuba, according to Venezuelan government and oil union officials.

The Maria Cristina, previously called Carlota C, arrived at El Palito in central Venezuela on 31 May. The tanker's last port of call was Moa, Cuba, according to ship-tracking data.

The vessel is one of four sanctioned by the US in September 2019 for transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba, which the White House blames for propping up President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.

Venezuela received gasoline from Iran in late May and early June, temporarily alleviating an acute fuel shortage aggravated by US sanctions.

The earlier plan to ship some of the fuel to Cuba had sparked outrage among Venezuela's US-backed political opposition, which is seeking to force Maduro out of power and set up a transition government.

A Venezuelan presidential palace official tells Argus that PdV had been instructed by the oil ministry to divert some Iranian fuel to Cuba, but defense ministry objections and storage constraints persuaded the government instead to use the tanker for storage until onshore storage capacity becomes available.

Venezuela routinely supplies oil to Cuba under an opaque bilateral supply agreement dating back two decades. There is no evidence that the pause in the new gasoline shipment to Cuba signals any cooling of close ties between Caracas and Havana.