Related videos:
The quarterly report that Pemex submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that the Mexican state oil company exported to Cuba only 900 barrels per day between January and March 2026, an amount equivalent to about 14.2 million dollars, which accounted for barely 0.2% of its total exports during that period.
The figure represents a 96% drop compared to the volumes of 2025, when Pemex dispatched to the island 15,000 barrels per day of crude oil and 2,200 barrels per day of petroleum products, for a total value of 500 million dollars, which at that time accounted for 3.1% of its total crude oil shipments.
The collapse of supplies has a direct cause: the pressure from Washington. On January 29, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the imposition of additional tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, which led Mexico to nearly halt its shipments. The last shipment of Mexican crude arrived on the island in January, just before the threat of tariffs was formalized.
At the close of the first quarter, on March 31, Pemex also changed the name of the subsidiary responsible for shipments to Cuba: it went from Gasolinas Bienestar to Servicios Logísticos Integrales Mumiya, S.A. de C.V.
In its report to the U.S. securities authority, the company stated that "the sales of Servicios Logísticos Integrales Mumiya, S.A. de C.V. are conducted under contracts denominated in pesos at prevailing market rates" and that it has procedures in place to ensure legal compliance.
However, the transparency of these operations has been questioned. The Mexican newspaper Vanguardia requested several times from Pemex the payment records for Cuba without receiving a response, arguing that it is a matter between private parties.
Eduardo Bohórquez, director of Transparencia Mexicana, stated to that outlet that the Government and the state oil company should be required to disclose amounts and payment receipts, as these are federal resources.
The General Director of Pemex, Víctor Rodríguez Padilla, stated in February that Cuba is fulfilling its obligations: "If you ask me if Cuba is paying, of course it is, we have no overdue bills according to the contract. They are very formal in their payments."
The decline in Mexican shipments exacerbates an unprecedented energy crisis in Cuba. The island needs approximately 110,000 barrels per day of oil and produces only about 40,000 of its own.
Venezuela, which historically was its main supplier, halted its shipments in December 2025 after reducing them from 24,000 barrels per day in 2023 to only 9,528 in 2025.
A Russian donation of 100,000 metric tons of crude oil, which arrived in March 2026, was being depleted by June with no new shipments confirmed.
On June 11, the United States also sanctioned CUPET, the Cuban Oil Union, which led to Vanguard Energy suspending a shipment of 250,000 barrels and the Australian oil company Melbana Energy halting its operations on the island.
In that context, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced this week that Mexico is working to resume oil shipments to Cuba through private companies with commercial permits, rather than directly through Pemex.
"It is not that it has been restarted, but the mechanism would be through private companies that have permission to bring fuel to Cuba," he specified during his daily press conference, adding, "We hope it can be resumed soon in a commercial manner. It is not a humanitarian issue, but rather a commercial one."
Filed under: