A shipment of 400,000 barrels of crude has left Mexico heading to Cuba, which is reeling from fuel shortages and power outages.

Reuters reported that the shipment left Monday and should arrive by the end of the week. Mexico is one of the few countries to export crude to Cuba, sanctioned by the United States, along with Venezuela. The latter is the island nation’s largest fuel supplier.

Between January and September of this year, Mexico shipped some 20,000 barrels daily to Cuba, Reuters noted in its report, citing LSEG data. That’s up from an average of 16,000 barrels per day last year, when the country began supplementing shipments of Venezuelan fuel to Cuba.

Earlier this month, Cuba suffered a series of blackouts due to power plant failures, including that of the country’s largest generator, Antonio Guiteras. This failure plunged the entire country into darkness and restoring supplies took days.

According to a Reuters report last week, Cuba’s problems were at least partly linked to a reduction in fuel shipments from its main supplier, Venezuela. In the first nine months of the year, Venezuelan fuel shipments to Cuba averaged 32,600 barrels, down from 60,000 b/d in the same period of 2023, Reuters said.

In the same report, the publication suggests that shipments from Mexico have also been reduced, leaving Cuba at greater risk of power outages.

In addition to the energy shortage, Cuba was also hit by Hurricane Oscar this month, complicating reconstruction efforts. Power was finally restored last week but authorities say power outages remain a risk.

Reuters also quoted the Cuban ambassador to Mexico as saying that the country lost $5 billion last year because of the U.S. embargo and that the Cuban government was in talks about aid from Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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