U.S. fuel exports to Cuba reached US$74,863,132 in August, up from about US$61.1 million in July, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday, October 8. Yet the lights still don't stay on. The Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, which Diario de Cuba describes as the country's main plant, broke down again Friday—its 23rd breakdown this year.
The figures stand out. Fuel accounted for about 37% of the US$202.5 million in U.S. goods exports to Cuba that month, the highest monthly total in Census Bureau records dating to 1992. From January through August, U.S. goods exports to Cuba reached US$876.5 million, already topping the full-year 2025 total of US$809.6 million. Fuel alone made up about US$231.7 million of that eight-month sum.
What's Being Shipped
Diesel-type light fuel oil with very low sulphur content led August sales, at about US$34.5 million. Unleaded gasoline came next at about US$24.4 million, followed by other petroleum oils at about US$12.7 million. Smaller shipments included liquefied propane worth about US$1.3 million, along with lubricating oils, greases and medicinal-grade white mineral oil.
The Miami customs district handled about US$49.6 million, or two-thirds of the total. Houston-Galveston shipped about US$19.1 million, New Orleans about US$5.5 million and Tampa about US$0.7 million. The US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a New York-based group that compiles official U.S. trade data on Cuba, reported the breakdown. Its table doesn't name exporters or buyers.
A Policy Riddle
The U.S. embargo, in force since 1962, bans most trade with Cuba, though licenses and exceptions allow some exports. Diario de Cuba, an independent Cuban news site published from Madrid, said those exceptions are intended in theory for Cuba's private sector. Analyst Jorge Piñón of the University of Texas Energy Institute views Cupet, the Cuban state oil company, as the final receiver, the publication reported.
Havana reads the arrangement differently. It accuses Washington of using the licenses to create economic dependence. Diario de Cuba also reported that oil shipments from Venezuela and Mexico stopped after a U.S. tariff threat in January, and that private channels have since made the United States Cuba's main fuel supplier.
Seizures and Sanctions
Enforcement continues alongside the trade. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Treasury unit that administers sanctions, blacklisted Havana fuel wholesaler ENETEC S.A. on July 13. On Wednesday, October 7, federal agents announced they had seized 90 Cuba-bound biodiesel shipments worth more than US$2.8 million, about 615,000 gallons. The cargo, bound for ENETEC, sat at Port Everglades in Florida and the Port of Houston.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez protested the seizure Thursday. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío called the U.S. action piracy, Diario de Cuba reported. U.S. agencies haven't said whether the seizure will lead to criminal charges.
What the Data Can't Say
The trade figures leave major questions unanswered. They don't show who sold or received the fuel, how the cargo was paid for, whether any was re-exported, or how much went to private firms rather than state companies such as Cupet. Nor do the figures point to a U.S. policy shift. The embargo remains in force.
For Cubans, the shipments haven't brought relief. With the Guiteras plant out of service, the peak-hour shortfall topped 2,000 megawatts, based on Diario de Cuba's count from state grid forecasts. The Census Bureau plans to release September trade figures on Wednesday, November 4.
Why This Matters:
Record fuel sales and a 23rd breakdown at the country's main power plant in the same year expose a gap between trade statistics and what households experience. A peak-hour shortfall above 2,000 megawatts means ordinary Cubans, not officials, bear the cost of an energy system that fuel imports alone haven't fixed. The policy picture adds another layer: licensed exports flow in as agents seize other cargo and sanctions target a wholesaler. Because the data don't reveal who buys the fuel or how it's paid for, the public can't easily judge whether the exceptions serve private businesses or the state. That opacity makes sanctions oversight harder, while people living through the outages bear the humanitarian stakes of getting it right.