The main US oil companies had announced that it would not send one single barrel of oil to the island and prohibited the use of its refineries to process crude form former Soviet Union.

The leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro analyzed the situation that was created with the US position on June 10th: “(…) we have our first problem against us with the oil situation.  The US State Department directly ordered the first great trick of the monopolies.  We are witnessing the first act of aggression and a plan to leave the island without oil (…) In addition to an new act of provocation (…)”

Fidel explained the tremendous business Washington had on the island with Texaco, Shell and Esso Standard Oil purchasing oil at 2.10 USD a barrel and bill the Cuban subsidiaries at 2.80 USD, obtaining 70 additional cents per unit.

Before Cuba’s firm stance, the US companies adopted several measures, among them, withdrew its technical personnel and took with them the majority of the Cuban engineers, offering them better salaries and other economic advantages.

 On June 28th, the then Prime Minister, signed a resolution in which the Cuban Revolutionary Government requested the Texas Oil Company of Cuba to refine the oil purchased from the Soviet Union or the refinery would be officially taken over.

The following day, the Marie vessel sailing with a Cuban flag slowly crossed the bay of Santiago de Cuba and arrived to the refinery installation with 5 000 barrels of Soviet oil.  They were informed of the arrival of another shipment with 21 000 which had to be refined.

The manager of the Texaco Company was reminded that according to the Minerals and Fuel Law of May 9th, 1938, they were forced to process the oil the Cuban State supplied them with.  Only 24 hours later, the same was repeated in the rest of the processing plants.

On July 4th, another Soviet vessel arrived to Habana port with 70 000 barrels.

This is how the Cuba-Soviet 10 000 kilometer oil bridge began which had been originated almost three months earlier on April 17th with the arrival of the Andrei Vichinsky ship to the Casilda port. 

Commander in Chief Fidel Castro had closed the chapter in which the US attempted to blackmail the country and said the following words:  “The challenges of the laws and national sovereignty, tolerated and even promoted by previous regimes with serious implications for the well being
of the people and humiliating for the Cuban dignity could not be allowed or accepted by the revolutionary government without resigning with its authority and betray the confidence of the people.”