Russia's Providing Iran With Intelligence to Take Out US Targets Says Rep. McCaul

Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said he disagrees with the administration's move to lift some sanctions on Russian oil because Moscow is an adversary that is aiding Iran in targeting US assets. Rep. McCaul joined to discuss on Bloomberg's Balance of Power.  A tanker carrying Russian crude appears headed to Cuba as the fuel-starved Caribbean island seeks a reprieve three months after the Trump administration effectively shut off the flow of oil to the country.

Data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler Ltd. shows a tanker carrying more than 700,000 barrels of Russian crude is expected to arrive in Cuba by the end of the month.

The Russian oil would be a test of the US embargo on the island and it’s unclear if any vessels will be able to deliver crude. Since December, a US naval blockade in the Caribbean has successfully deterred ships from approaching Cuba, while the threat of tariffs on countries supplying oil to the country led Mexico to halt shipments in early February. Mexico had previously emerged as Havana’s top supplier of oil after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year and halted fuel flows from what had been the communist-run island’s staunchest ally. The vessel Anatoly Kolodkin appeared to be making its way from Russia’s Primorsk port to the commercial Matanzas port in Cuba as of Tuesday, carrying 730,000 barrels of Russian Urals oil, Kpler data shows. Another tanker that appeared to be carrying Russian oil to Cuba last month, the Sea Horse, briefly appeared to move again toward Cuba after diverting course last month.

The arrival of one of them could be the first major fuel delivery after a lengthy halt. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said last week his country had not received a delivery in three months. That would be the longest Cuba has ever gone without receiving fuel in at least 12 years, said Matt Smith, an analyst with Kpler.

A crude delivery would not provide instant relief to Cuba. It needs to be refined before it can be used, a process that can take 20 to 30 days, said Jorge Piñon, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute who tracks fuel shipments to the country. “That’s why our argument is, do not send crude to Cuba,” Piñon said. “You need to send finished product.”

Still, 700,000 barrels of Russian crude would be a significant lifeline. Cuba needs approximately 100,000 oil barrels a day to function but produces just two-fifths of that, according to Piñon. Every day without fuel shipments, it gets closer to what Piñon calls its “drop dead date” — the day they run out of fuel. Since the US set up the naval blockade, Cuba has been running on oil received in previous months and its small domestic production of heavy crude, used as feedstock for power generation in cases of emergency.

The island has been plagued by power outages and shortages of fuel from the US embargo. Cuba’s electrical grid suffered a total collapse on Monday leaving the island’s 10 million residents in the dark. Lack of power for everything from hospitals to garbage trucks to refrigerators has trigged a deepening humanitarian crisis across the country.

Trump issued a fresh warning to Cuba while its power grid was down, telling reporters Monday that he believes he’ll have “the honor of taking Cuba” soon, saying he could “free it, take it — I can do anything I want.” Havana, meanwhile, said it would open its economy to the Cuban diaspora, a longtime demand of the exile community in Miami.

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