Russia signs agreement to supply oil to Cuba

Russia signs agreement to supply oil to Cuba
Friday, May 05, 2017

HAVANA, Cuba (CMC) – Russia's state oil company Rosneft, has signed an
agreement with Cuba's state-run Cubametals to supply 250,000 tonnes of
olive and diesel fuel.The agreement, signed on Wednesday, means that for
the first time this century, Russia will be supplying the
Spanish-speaking Caribbean island with large quantities of oil as
supplies from Venezuela have dwindled.

According to Reuters, a Russian tanker with 249,000 barrels of refined
products is due to arrive in Cuba on May 10.

Reuters quotes Jorge Pinon, an oil expert at the University of Texas as
saying that Cuba consumes 22,000 barrel per day of diesel and 140,000
barrels per day of oil products.

"It is very clear that Cuba is diversifying its long-term supply
contracts in the event that its October 2000 subsidised oil agreement
with Venezuela is terminated," Pinon said.

In recent years, Cuba has relied on cash-strapped Venezuela for about 70
per cent of its fuel needs.

However Venezuela's subsidised shipments have fallen by as much as 40
per cent since 2014.

Source: Russia signs agreement to supply oil to Cuba -
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Russia_signs_agreement_to_supply_oil_to_Cuba?profile=1228