A cargo of 400,000 barrels of crude has departed from Mexico en route to Cuba, which is reeling from fuel shortages and blackouts.
Reuters reported that the cargo departed on Monday and should be arriving by the end of the week. Mexico is one of the few countries exporting crude to U.S.-sanctioned Cuba, along with Venezuela. The latter is the biggest fuel supplier to the island nation.
Between January and September this year, Mexico shipped some 20,000 barrels daily to Cuba, Reuters noted in its report, citing data from LSEG. That’s up from an average of 16,000 barrels daily last year, when the country started supplementing Venezuelan fuel shipments to Cuba.
Earlier this month, Cuba suffered a string of backouts due to power plant failure, including that of the biggest generator in the country, Antonio Guiteras. The failure plunged the whole country into darkness and restoring supply took days.
According to a Reuters report from last week, Cuba’s troubles were at least in part related to a reduction in fuel shipments from its top supplier Venezuela. Over the first nine months of the year, Venezuela fuel shipments to Cuba averaged 32,600 barrels, which was down from 60,000 bpd in the same period of 2023, Reuters said.
In the same report, the publication suggested that shipments from Mexico had been cut as well, leaving Cuba more exposed to the risk of power failures.
On top of the energy scarcity, Cuba was also hit by Hurricane Oscar this month, which complicated recovery efforts. Power supply was finally restored last week but according to the authorities blackouts remain a risk.
Reuters also quoted the Cuban ambassador to Mexico as saying the country had lost $5 billion last year because of the U.S. embargo and that the Cuban government was in talks on aid from Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
