Cuba runs out of diesel and fuel oil amid blackout crisis

The power system has been forced to lean on domestic crude, natural gas and renewable energy, but that mix has not been enough to keep supply stable once liquid fuel disappeared. Even the solar capacity Cuba has added over the past two years has been blunted by grid instability, limiting the benefit of new installations at the very moment the country needed them most.

The fuel shortage has also exposed how narrow Cuba’s options have become. Negotiations to import fuel are still under way, but they are being squeezed by higher global energy and shipping costs and by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has complicated the broader market. Mexico and Venezuela, once major suppliers, have not sent fuel since a January executive order that threatened tariffs on countries shipping fuel to Cuba. Since December, only one large Russian-flagged tanker has delivered crude, and that cargo offered only temporary relief.

Cuba’s energy minister said the country was open to anyone willing to sell fuel, a statement that reflects both urgency and isolation. With the blockade now in its fourth month, the crisis is no longer just a question of access to imports. It has become a test of whether a state with weak infrastructure, limited reserves and few reliable suppliers can keep hospitals running, trucks moving and neighborhoods lit when liquid fuel runs out.