Cuba began on April 17 the distribution of fuel derived from Russian crude that arrived aboard the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, a day earlier than scheduled. However, despite this, the country is operating at half of what it needs, admitted the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy.
It must be said that we are extracting 800 tons, consuming 800 tons of diesel daily. That is not enough. Half, the official admitted candidly during the Mesa Redonda.
The actual demand for this time of year, given the current temperatures and the maintenance phase of the thermal power plants, is 1,600 tons per day.
The government decided to distribute only half in order to stretch the duration of the fuel, a strategy that De la O Levy himself described bluntly: "Because if we end up consuming 1,600 tons, well, we will have fewer power outages. That's true. But it shortens our time by 50%, because it's not a fuel, it's a ship."
The minister explained that the government waited to accumulate a minimum inventory at all locations across the country, from Pinar del Río to Guantánamo, before starting the distribution.
"We were calculating that on the 18th of this month we would already have the situation to kick everything off at once. In reality, we started on the 17th. And it began to be seen... From that same day, the improvement, not the one we want began to be seen," he said.
The improvement in power outages is very slight, especially in the interior provinces, and time is running out. De la O Levy was clear about the immediate horizon: "With just this ship, we have fuel until the end of this month. That means we only have a few days left, because today is already April 22."
The minister also dismantled any illusion about the magnitude of the structural problem facing the Island. "I have seen colleagues saying, well, we already have the solution, a ship has arrived. Eight ships are needed monthly. For the economy and generation. Eight ships, for all types of fuels: gasoline, diesel, liquefied gas, crude oil, because we need the crude," he detailed.
This amounts to about five million tons of imported fuel annually, far exceeding national production, which reached 2.2 million tons in 2025 (the plan was for 4.1 million).
The government aims to finish 2026 with 3.3 million tons of domestic production, a goal that would still leave a significant gap.
El Anatoly Kolodkin, a sanctioned oil tanker by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, arrived at the port of Matanzas between March 30 and 31 with approximately 100,000 metric tons of Urals crude, the first fuel shipment Cuba had received since December 8 of 2025.
Cuba spent nearly four months without importing fuel, experiencing blackouts that lasted up to 20 hours a day and a generation deficit that reached 1,945 megawatts on April 1.
On April 2, Russia announced a second shipment aboard the Universal, containing approximately 251,000 barrels of diesel, but its arrival was not confirmed by the close of the Round Table on Tuesday.
"How long can this energetic happiness last? Not for very long, Randy, not for very long," De la O Levy admitted to the host, in a phrase that accurately summarizes the precariousness of Cuba's energy situation after 67 years of dictatorship.
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