Cuba-Petroleum Union (CUPET) announced this Tuesday the refining of 100% domestic crude oil at the Hermanos Díaz refinery in Santiago de Cuba, presenting it as a step forward in "energy sovereignty" amid the worst fuel crisis the island has faced in decades.
According to the CUPET executives interviewed by Canal Caribe, the initiative was born out of urgency: Cuba does not have imported crude oil to produce the solvent naphtha needed to inject into the wells of the Varadero field—which contributes nearly 70% of the national production—and to maintain the flow of oil to the thermoelectric plants.
The technical problem that prompted the project
A CUPET executive explained it straightforwardly: "The source for generating the viscosity-reducing solvent gasoline that is currently needed for injection into the wells in the Varadero deposits must be produced by us, and we do not have imported crude oil. That is why CUPET has undertaken the task of starting an analysis at all its facilities to assess, from a technological perspective, how to process Cuban crude."
Cuban crude oil is predominantly heavy and very viscous, with a recovery coefficient of barely between 5% and 7% of the oil contained in the subsurface.
What was obtained at the Hermanos Díaz refinery?
The second test run processed around 20,000 tons of Cuban crude oil.
The obtained products include solvent (naphtha), a type of kerosene known as kero 10, and a cut of fuel oil with atmospheric residue.
The solvent will be allocated directly to oil production.
"The refining of this crude primarily yields a component that is a solvent, which we will use in oil production, as it ensures our daily ability to produce oil to supply thermal power plants for thermal generation," explained an executive.
Fuel oil is being evaluated in the nickel industry and in the thermoelectric plants in the province of Santiago de Cuba.
“Although this is a preliminary phase, the results are quite encouraging,” acknowledged one of the specialists.
For this project, CUPET uses crude oil from western Cuba, which has a lower viscosity: "It allows us to transfer it without having to inject the viscosity-reducing sorbent naphtha."
It's not the first, but it is the most urgent
"Since 2010, there have been experiences in Cuba in the refining of Cuban crude oil that have taken place at the Cabaiguán refinery in the center of the country. We went to Santiago because it is a refinery with greater capacity," noted an executive from CUPET.
The Sergio Soto refinery in Cabaiguán expanded its capacity from 400 to 600 tons per day in 2026, with plans to reach 1,000.
At the same time, CUPET is working on a "thermoconversion" process that would eliminate the use of viscosity-reducing naphthas, although it is still in the pilot phase at the Hermanos Díaz refinery.
The context: An unprecedented crisis
The announcement comes at a time of energy collapse that the regime itself has had to publicly acknowledge.
Venezuela interrupted its oil shipments since November 2025; Russia made its last shipment in October 2025; and Mexico suspended its supplies in January 2026.
Between December 2025 and the end of April 2026, Cuba received only one fuel ship, when the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged that the country needs eight ships per month.
On April 16, Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted that Cuba "absolutely lacks fuel for almost everything," and on May 13, he described the situation of the National Electroenergetic System as “particularly tense”, pointing out that Cuba stopped generating 1,100 MW due to a lack of fuel.
Cuba produces internally between 30,500 and 40,000 barrels of oil daily, but consumes between 90,000 and 110,000, a gap that has historically relied on imports that have now almost entirely disappeared, and that no domestic crude oil refining, however promising it may be in the pilot phase, can close in the short term.
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