So Cuba has run out of oil. What happens now?
According to Cuban officials, the country has basically exhausted its diesel and fuel oil supplies, and the result is chaos across the island.
Right now, Cubans are dealing with massive blackouts, transport disruptions, and businesses shutting down early because there simply is not enough power to keep things running.
So how did this happen?
We talked about this back in February. Cuba depends heavily on imported oil, especially from Venezuela. But shipments started drying up after the United States increased pressure on countries supplying fuel to Cuba.
Venezuela and Mexico both reduced deliveries, leaving Cuba with a dangerous energy gap. And because the country’s power plants are old and already struggling, the system started falling apart fast. And that was before the US and Israel attacked Iran, and disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, which of course made everything worse.
Now, the Cuban government is scrambling for emergency fuel shipments from allies like Russia, but experts say one or two deliveries won’t solve the problem. On the island, most gas stations are closed because they literally have nothing to sell. And prices have nearly doubled at the ones that are still open.
Black market fuel prices have exploded, making things even harder for ordinary Cubans already struggling with inflation.
Now this has implications for the rest of the region too. Instability in Cuba is likely to cause people to leave in massive numbers and put more pressure on neighbouring economies that are already dealing with high living costs.
On the business side, tourism operators, airlines, shipping companies and regional trade partners could all feel ripple effects if Cuba’s economy keeps deteriorating.
And globally, the situation adds more tension to an already complicated energy market.
So at this point, Cuba is not just dealing with an oil shortage. It’s dealing with an economic survival crisis that could reshape the island’s future for years to come.
And that’s the bottom line.
