The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) and the state company CUPET denied this Saturday the report published on Friday by the government-aligned newspaper Girón, which had stated that there was a fire in one of the tanks at the Base de Supertanqueros de Matanzas during maintenance work.
The newspaper had stated that “while maintenance work was being carried out on an empty tank of the entity, an accident occurred that caused a fire which was controlled by the forces of the Fire Department and other cooperatives from the Ministry of Interior and other agencies,” adding that “the incident poses no risk of spread, nor for nearby residents.”
Hours later, the MINEM addressed the situation with a note published on Facebook to refute that version: "Regarding the publication of a fire in one of the tanks at the Super Tanker Base, we clarify that such a fire did not occur."
The entity added only that during maintenance actions being carried out on the tank, the sulfur accumulated on the surface caused smoke that was quickly extinguished.
However, CUPET issued a more detailed clarification in which it provided a technical explanation of the phenomenon and argued, without explicitly stating it, that the incident could lead to a fire.
According to the state oil company, the tank where the work was being carried out did not contain any product inside, and the incident is attributed to a chemical reaction typical of Cuban oil.
“The tanks that store Cuban oil, due to their high sulfur content, accumulate elemental sulfur on the roofs. During maintenance, when oxy-cutting is used to remove the roof, that sulfur can ignite,” CUPET stated in a line where it acknowledges that the situation could lead to a fire.
CUPET explained that to prevent that combustion, water is applied before starting the cuts, but even so, it can still produce "a column of thick gray smoke, without propagation, which dissipates quickly."
Both institutions agreed that work in the industrial area continued smoothly this Saturday.
The episode highlights an internal tension within the regime's information apparatus: a local state media outlet published a version that national authorities in the energy sector had to publicly refute, causing unnecessary alarm in a facility that carries a recent trauma.
The Supertanqueros Base is the largest oil and petroleum products storage infrastructure in the country and the site of the worst industrial disaster in recent Cuban history: on August 5, 2022, a lightning strike hit tank 52 and triggered a fire that engulfed four of the eight storage tanks, resulting in 17 fatalities and more than 140 injuries, with estimated losses of 66 million dollars.
Since then, the facility is in the process of reconstruction with Cuban and Chinese brigades, who are working on four new tanks of 50,000 m³ each.
In April 2026, CUPET reported that the repair of another tank was expected to be completed in May, and on August 5th, a tribute was paid to the victims on the fourth anniversary of the tragedy.
The new incident—smoke with no real fire—occurs at a time of extreme sensitivity, with Cuba engulfed in a deep energy crisis characterized by prolonged power outages and a shortage of fuel, making any development at this base high-impact news for the population.
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