Cuba’s energy infrastructure faces daily challenges due to a lack of fuel, a recent Cuban TV report noted.
According to experts, in the first two months of 2024, fuel imports into Cuba only reached 46% of what was planned. This deficit has a direct and significant impact on the economy and society, especially on the generation of electrical energy.
Néstor Pérez Franco, general director of the Cuba-Petroleum Union, informed journalist Bernardo Espinosa that the country’s annual consumption is approximately 8 million tons of fuel, of which 3 million are nationally produced and 5 million are imported.
In 2023, the country’s four refineries processed imported crude oil. However, in 2024, the essential fuel figures for distributed generation and floating plants decreased. In particular, diesel imports decreased by a third compared to previous years. Currently, only approximately 30% of the generation demand for this fuel is satisfied, he announced.
Likewise, he reported that mobile generation is experiencing a deficit due to the inability to secure sufficient fuel from some suppliers. This is the main cause of the recent blackouts.
FUEL IN CUBA
The authorities made it clear that, “in Cuba, the export of fuels usable in the country, such as diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, turbo fuel and liquefied gas, would not be allowed.” Instead, these types of fuels are being imported to meet the various demands of the economy.
According to the information offered, CUPET assured that the priority is the development of national production for energy generation. In 2023, gas production increased by 13% compared to 2022, and a further increase is expected in 2024 from the drilling of a gas well that will take place at the end of the first half of this year.
On the issue of blackouts, MINEM sources highlighted that thermal generation and power plants have avoided longer interruptions in Cuba’s electricity service, due to insufficient generation in the current scenario.
“We managed to have an acceptable summer and a good end of the year in the past, but the days that have passed this year have been very hard for the national electrical system and for our population,” they declared.
The Cuban government has not been able to implement, for the moment, the announced increase in fuel rates, due to a cyber attack about which no further information has been offered. This 500% increase in fuel prices should have come into effect on February 1, 2024 in Cuba. In defending the measure, the Minister of Energy and Mines explained that it seeks to eliminate the disparity between the price paid by tourists and visitors (subsidized) and the international price.
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