Cuba has completely run out of diesel and fuel oil following the ongoing US blockade of oil to the country, the country’s Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy has said.
In an interview with state-run media, de la O Levy said there were limited amounts of gas available, but that Cuba’s energy system was in a “critical” state as a US-led blockade of oil to the country squeezed supply.
“The sum of the different types of fuel: crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have absolutely none; diesel, of which we have absolutely none – I am being repetitive – the only thing we have is gas from our wells, where production has grown,” de la O Levy said.
Under the US blockade, parts of the capital Havana have been plunged into 20 to 22-hour blackout periods which has led to scattered protests against power cuts in the capital.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Havana had rejected a US offer of humanitarian aid worth $100m (£74m), a claim Cuba denied.
The US State Department repeated its offer on Wednesday, saying the humanitarian assistance would be distributed in coordination with the Catholic Church and “reliable” humanitarian organisations.
It continued: “The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical living-saving aid and ultimately be accountable to the Cuban people for standing in the way of critical assistance.”
The US this week reiterated its offer of sending $100m (£74m) in aid to the country in exchange for “meaningful reforms to Cuba’s communist system”.
US Sanctions on Cuba
The decades-long U.S. embargo and sanctions against Cuba intensified in early 2026 under the administration of Donald Trump, with new restrictions targeting Cuba’s military-linked businesses, financial networks, energy imports, and foreign partners.
The United States says the measures are aimed at pressuring the Cuban government over alleged human rights abuses, repression, intelligence cooperation with adversarial states, and national security concerns. Cuba, however, describes the sanctions as economic warfare designed to cripple the island’s economy.
Cuba normally relies on Venezuela and Mexico to supply oil to its refinery system. However, the two countries have largely cut off supplies since US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on countries that send fuel to Cuba.
Taking to social media on Wednesday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the US for the energy shortages as he acknowledged the “particularly tense” situation across the island.
“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,” he wrote.
