MIAMI, United States. – The agency Reuters reported this Tuesday about Cuba’s difficulties in guaranteeing domestic fuel demand so far this year, a crisis aggravated by the drop in oil shipments from Venezuela.
According to the British media, the Caribbean island “is trying to combat a diesel and gasoline deficit amid the decrease in shipments from its Venezuelan political ally.”
Despite the fact that more than 75% of the fuel Cuba receives continues to come from the South American country, the 22,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) it received during the first half of 2022 is far from the 44,000 it received in the same period in 2020. , prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According Reutersthe situation is due to “problems” that Venezuela has had “to produce refined products for its own needs”, a fact that has forced Caracas to limit the oil subsidy to Havana.
The agency itself indicates that the Cuban regime imported some 70,000 bpd of crude oil and fuel in the first quarter of the year, an insufficient supply for the Caribbean country, which needs at least 100,000 bpd to meet its normal demand.
The shortage of fuel on the Island has caused problems in the supply of fuel, as well as frequent blackouts in all the provinces of the country.
The Cuban regime has tried to justify the new energy crisis with breakdowns suffered by some units of the main thermoelectric plants on the island, including the Antonio Guiteras, in Matanzas, and the Lidio Ramón Pérez, in Felton, in Holguín.
The blackouts were one of the triggers for the social outbreak of July 11, 2021, a situation that could be repeated in the event that the Cuban authorities fail to reduce the power cuts for the coming summer period.
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