Mexico boosts oil supply as Cuba battles crippling outages
Cuba has been grappling with a severe energy crisis for years, leading to frequent power outages. In December, residents faced up to three-day waits at gas stations. Independent Cuban media reported that Mexico is supplying the island with more oil.
Cuba has been mired in crisis for several years, and since 2023, regular power outages have been occurring on the island. These outages are a result of power plant failures and fuel shortages. The scarcity of gasoline and other petrochemical products particularly affects the country's capital, Havana.
According to data cited by Radio Marti and the portal 14ymedio, oil supplies from Mexico to Cuba increased by 43.5 percent from January to October.
Mexican crude oil currently accounts for about 25 percent of Cuba's total oil consumption. By the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2024, the average supply level had surpassed 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 lines at gas stations were growing longer by the day.
"In the worst cases, customers have to wait three days to reach the pump," reported Radio Marti. The station noted that in many areas of 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-stricken Cuba. Two tankers arrived on the island carrying a total of 139,000 tons of diesel. Although the shipments were dispatched from ports in Denmark and the Netherlands, Russia was behind the deliveries.
