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The Australian oil company Melbana Energy Limited immediately suspended all its direct participation —financial, technical, and administrative— in the Block 9 project in Cuba, after the U.S. Department of State included the Cuban state-owned enterprise CUPET on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on June 11.
The designation occurred under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, as part of the new framework of sanctions from Washington against the economic structures of the Cuban regime, and in this case, against a state-owned enterprise operating in the energy sector.
Melbana, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: MAY) and operates Block 9 with a 30% stake through its own subsidiary, notified CUPET of the suspension and specified that the measure will remain in effect while the company conducts a detailed review of the legal and regulatory implications.
"Following the SDN designation by CUPET, the company has immediately suspended its direct participation in financial, technical, or administrative support for the contract while it conducts a more detailed review of these developments and informed CUPET of this," states the announcement sent to the Australian stock exchange.
The project was already facing serious difficulties before the sanctions.
Operations in Block 9 had practically ceased by the end of 2025, when the Angolan state company Sonangol —which owned 70% of the project— stopped making capital calls, accumulating a debt of approximately 23.5 million dollars. This forced Melbana to withdraw all its expatriate staff and contractors from Cuba.
In April 2026, Melbana declared Sonangol in default and requested the transfer of that 70% in its favor, a transaction that is still awaiting regulatory approval from Cuba and is now under a more complex legal scenario due to sanctions on CUPET.
The Block 9 covers an area of approximately 2,344 km² on land, on the northern coast of Cuba, about 140 kilometers east of Havana and aligned with the Varadero oilfield. The project is currently in the exploration phase and has not generated any revenue to date.
The Australian company clarified that neither it nor its subsidiaries have been designated as SDNs under any sanctions program of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury.
However, as a non-U.S. operator with CUPET as the contractual counterpart, it faces the risk of secondary sanctions.
"The applicable sanctions framework is highly technical in nature, and the legal and regulatory consequences of the Executive Order are not straightforward," the company warned in its statement.
Melbana stated that it sought advice on whether there are ways to request clarifications from OFAC or the State Department that would allow it to resume operations in Cuba.
The sanction against CUPET is part of a sustained increase in U.S. pressure on the Cuban regime.
On June 5, the deadline given to foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA, the military-business conglomerate of the regime, expired under the threat of secondary sanctions.
According to previous reports, major shipping companies such as Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM had already suspended operations to Cuba following the new framework of U.S. sanctions against entities linked to the regime.
Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz described the sanction against CUPET as a "new attack by the U.S. government against our people," while the state-owned oil company itself rejected the measures, labeling them as "unjust and arbitrary."
Melbana specified that its exploration license portfolio in Australia is not affected by the Executive Order, and that it will update the market as soon as it has information suitable for disclosure.
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