US Plans to Allow Russian Oil Tanker Into Cuba, Easing Crisis

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(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration is planning to let a Russian oil tanker dock in Cuba, alleviating an energy crisis triggered when the US prohibited deliveries to the Communist regime. 

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The shipment of crude is expected to be allowed to arrive in coming days, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified without permission to speak publicly. 

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The Anatoly Kolodkin is carrying around 730,000 barrels of crude. Cuban officials have taken some steps to work with the US in recent days, including allowing fuel for the US Embassy to arrive on the island after earlier saying publicly that they would prevent it because of the broader US near-total blockade, according to the people.

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As of Sunday afternoon, the ship was approaching the island from Haitian waters as it headed toward Cuba’s western port of Matanzas.

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The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment about the US view of the ship, and the White House declined to comment. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened action against the leftist Cuban government amid an intensifying US push to deprive the government of fuel and financing. The island has suffered widespread blackouts in recent weeks as shipments of crude and fuel have been cut off under the near-total blockade.

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The United Nations warned last month that the US campaign is having an “increasingly severe impact” on hospitals, public sanitation, water delivery and food distribution. It called on all countries to end economically coercive measures.

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The electricity shortage has caused tens of thousands of surgeries to be postponed, cut off pregnant women and other patients from basic health services and disrupted dialysis, Tanieris Diéguez La O, the deputy chief of mission at Cuba’s embassy in Washington, said in an interview earlier this month.

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While the island’s 10 million residents have been subject to chronic rolling outages for years, the crisis has intensified under Trump’s embargo. 

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The fuel shipment should be enough to power Cuba’s thermoelectric power plants for about a week, given they require about 100,000 barrels of oil a day to meet demand. Cuba’s domestic production accounts for only around two-fifths of that.

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The US is now regulating the flow of energy to the nation by letting companies sell fuel to its minuscule but fast-growing sector of small- and medium-sized businesses but not the government.

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The New York Times earlier reported the Trump administration’s plans for the oil tanker. 

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—With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.

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