A sanctioned Russian tanker carrying about 730,000 barrels of crude reached Cuba’s port of Matanzas on Monday, March 30, 2026, after President Trump said he had “no problem” with the delivery, ending a de facto oil blockade that had left the island without imports for more than three months.
Who Pays
The tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, marked Cuba’s first oil import since January 2026. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the country had experienced three months without oil imports. The shipment arrived after a period in which the Trump administration blocked remaining Venezuelan shipments and threatened punitive tariffs on any third country, including Mexico, that supplied oil to Cuba.
Those measures hit daily life across the island of 9.6 million people. The base article says the policy led to multiple total grid collapses, severe gasoline rationing, hospital shutdowns, and halted public transport. Jorge Piñón of the University of Texas Energy Institute estimated the shipment could yield roughly 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to cover about nine to ten days of Cuba’s daily demand.
The tanker departed Russia’s Primorsk port on March 8, 2026, and was escorted by a Russian navy vessel through the English Channel. The US Coast Guard authorized the tanker’s passage after Trump’s statement from Air Force One on Sunday, March 29, 2026. The article says this reversed his administration’s de facto oil blockade on Havana.
State Power and Energy Control
The blockade began in January 2026 after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, cutting off Cuba’s primary supplier. The Trump administration then blocked all remaining Venezuelan shipments and threatened tariffs on other suppliers. The article describes the Anatoly Kolodkin as sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The decision to allow the shipment came as Washington temporarily eased global Russian oil sanctions to stabilize energy markets disrupted by the Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A second vessel, the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse, carrying 200,000 barrels of Russian-origin diesel initially destined for Cuba, rerouted to Venezuela during the week of March 30, 2026.
Piñón estimated the 730,000 barrels would take 15 to 20 days to refine and another five to ten days to distribute as finished products, covering barely a week of Cuba’s electricity generation needs. The article says the shipment would not end the island’s energy crisis.
Trump said from Miami on Friday, March 27, 2026, that “Cuba will be next” after the fall of Venezuela and the attack on Iran. The article places that statement alongside the blockade and the broader regional pressure campaign.
Markets and War Risk
Gold prices surged on March 30, 2026, with gold jumping 1.5% to $4,580 and hitting an intraday high of $4,619, its highest level in over a week. The rally was attributed to Trump’s Truth Social threat to “blow up and completely obliterate” Iran’s Kharg Island, oil wells, and power plants; the Houthis’ first direct missile strikes on Israel; and Brent crude surging to $117.
Brent crude recorded a 59% gain in March 2026, its largest monthly surge since the 1990 Gulf War. PVM Energy’s Tamas Varga warned that “$200 oil will not be an otherworldly supposition” if the US launches a ground invasion or Kharg seizure. David Roche of Quantum Strategy warned that if both chokepoints close, 4–5 million barrels per day could be removed from global markets.
The Houthis’ entry into the conflict, firing missiles at Israel in support of Iran, threatens to close the Red Sea/Bab al-Mandeb route, an alternative Saudi Arabia has used to bypass Hormuz. Silver surged 3.3% to $72.39 on March 30, 2026, its best session in two weeks. Asian markets also fell, with the Nikkei down 4.6% and the Hang Seng down 1.9%.
Pakistan offered to mediate talks, but Iran rejected US proposals as “excessive and unreasonable.” On March 13, 2026, Trump warned Tehran to “watch what happens” today. Reuters reported that Trump was also weighing a broader cabinet shake-up in response to Iran-war pressure.