Two ships from Mexico with a total of 80,000 barrels of fuel are going to arrive in Cuba in days to help alleviate the blackout crisis on the island, according to data from the Energy Institute of the University of Texas (USA) provided to EFE.
The two ships will provide hydrocarbons to Cuba at a critical time for the island, which suffers power outages of 20 or more hours a day in large areas of its territory and in the face of doubt that Venezuela, due to US military pressure, can remain its main oil supplier.
The ships are the Ocean Mariner and the Eugenia Gas, both flying the Liberian flag. The latter is already circumnavigating the island of Cuba along its northern coast, heading to the port of Moa (east) after loading at Pemex’s Pajaritos complex, in the south of the country.
The other ship, for its part, would still be loading at these same Mexican industrial facilities to then travel to Cuba, always in accordance with the Energy Institute’s ship tracking data.
These shipments take place at a critical moment in the Cuban electrical system. The country has suffered a deep energy crisis since mid-2024 due to the frequent breakdowns of its obsolete power plants and the lack of State currency to acquire the fuel necessary for its generation units.
In just twelve months, the national electrical system has suffered five total collapses and several partial ones.
The 80,000 barrels that Pemex sends represent slightly more than the island’s one-day crude oil deficit. Cuba needs around 110,000 barrels for its basic energy needs, of which about 40,000 come from national production.
According to the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) of Cuba, 60% of the fuel consumed on the island is imported. And of the total that the country needs, 65% is to feed the country’s thermoelectric plants.
According to several independent studies, about half of Cuba’s fuel needs are covered thanks to the import of crude oil from Venezuela, Mexico and, to a much lesser extent, Russia.
According to analysis by the Energy Institute and other similar centers, Venezuela had contributed around 50,000 barrels per day to Cuba in recent years, but since 2024 the average volume has decreased to between 10,000 and 30,000. Neither Caracas nor Havana make this data public.
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However, the US naval deployment off the Venezuelan coast and the decrease in shipments from Mexico (from an average of 22,000-25,000 barrels per day to approximately 5,000) have led the island to its current extreme situation.
The announcement by US President Donald Trump of a naval blockade of the sanctioned oil tankers of the ghost fleet threatens to aggravate the situation for Havana.
Furthermore, shipments of Mexican oil to Havana, which the Government of the North American country has framed as “humanitarian aid,” have already been a cause of friction with the United States.
Asked about this in her morning conference, the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, assured this Thursday that the relationship between Mexico and Cuba “has always been a difference” with the United States since 1959.
The Venezuelan situation, on the other hand, leaves the island facing a possible situation on the limit, not only because it is its main source of fuel, but because it could also close a much-needed alternative source of foreign currency for Havana.
According to an investigation by the American newspaper The New York Times, based on documents from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, much of the crude oil that Caracas sends to Cuba does not reach the Caribbean island, but is resold in Asia (mainly in China).
Havana, which pays for these shipments with doctors, professors and experts in intelligence and security, needs these foreign currencies to import basic goods, since with the collapse of its national production it buys 80% of what it consumes abroad.
This was the case of the Skipper, the oil tanker that the US recently intercepted in international waters in the Caribbean, according to the US newspaper. The ship was headed to Asia, but days before the seizure it had transferred about 50,000 barrels to another ship that were destined for Cuba.
After the naval assault, the Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a statement that went beyond its previous condemnations.
In his opinion, this “act of piracy and maritime terrorism” is part of “the escalation of the United States to impede Venezuela’s legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including hydrocarbon supplies to Cuba.”
With information from EFE
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