The British newspaper Financial Times reported that oil exports to Cuba are dwindling and the Caribbean nation only has enough supply for “15 to 20” days, amid the US embargo on Venezuela and pressure on Mexico.
“Cuba has only enough oil to last 15 to 20 days with current levels of demand and domestic production,” the British daily said, citing data firm Kpler, adding that “its last remaining supplier, Mexico, appears to have canceled a shipment while the United States has blocked deliveries from Venezuela,” the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
It noted that Cuba risks facing severe rationing, while much of the country already suffers almost daily blackouts.
Cuba has received only 84,900 barrels of crude this year from a single Mexican shipment on January 9, the Financial Times said, citing data from the consultancy Kpler. That amount of hydrocarbons, he pointed out, is equivalent to just over 3,000 barrels per day (bpd), a figure lower than the average of 37,000 bpd from all suppliers in 2025.
“They have a major crisis on their hands” if more deliveries don’t arrive in the coming weeks, said Jorge Piñón, an oil expert at the University of Texas, quoted by the Financial Times.
Cuba, subject to a US embargo since 1962, has been experiencing fuel shortages for the past three years, which have a direct impact on its electricity production.
The New York Times reported that the island needs 100,000 barrels of oil per day; about half of that is used to generate electricity, and the rest to supply transportation and factories.
“With the Trump administration exerting control over Venezuela’s oil industry, Cuba is receiving only a small fraction of the oil it needs; a shortage that, experts warn, is increasingly likely to trigger an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the country,” the US newspaper reported.
According to official Cuban government data, the country can only meet less than half of its domestic demand. The official newspaper Granma reported yesterday that electricity service was affected “for 24 hours” on Wednesday, and that for Thursday’s peak demand, “an availability of 1,385 megawatts (MW) is projected, with a maximum demand of 3,150 MW, for a deficit of 1,765 MW. Therefore, if the projected conditions persist, an outage of 1,795 MW is expected during this period.”
