Mexican oil supply offers lifeline amid Cuba's fuel crisis
Cuba has been grappling with a severe energy crisis for years. Power outages occur frequently. However, in December, residents waited up to three days in line at petrol stations. Mexico is supplying increasing amounts of oil to the island, as reported by independent Cuban media.
Cuba has been mired in crisis for years. Since 2023, the island has experienced regular power outages due to power plant failures and fuel shortages. Petrol and other petrochemical products are also lacking, which particularly affects the country's capital, Havana.
According to data cited by Radio Martí and the portal 14ymedio, from January to October, oil supplies from Mexico to Cuba increased by 43.5 per cent.
Mexican crude oil currently accounts for about 25 per cent of the total consumption of this resource in Cuba. At the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2024, the average level of supplies was already over 31,300 barrels per day. The new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has pledged to continue supporting Cuba.
Cuba's energy crisis
The situation on the island is becoming increasingly tense. In December, independent media reported that queues at petrol stations are growing longer by the day.
"In the worst cases, customers have to wait for three days to reach the pump," reported Radio Martí. The station noted that in many places on the island, long lines of people with jerry cans in hand are forming, stretching for miles.
In November, the media reported that at least nine power plants were not operational in energy-chaotic Cuba. Two tankers arrived on the island with a total load of approximately 141,000 metric tonnes of diesel. Although the transport comes from ports in Denmark and the Netherlands, Russia is behind its dispatch.
