U.S. fuel exports to Cuba totaled US$74,863,132 in August 2026. On 9 October, the Antonio Guiteras power plant broke down again, and Cuba’s peak-hour shortfall topped 2,000 megawatts. Fuel accounted for about 37% of U.S. goods exports to Cuba that month, but trade data don’t name the sellers or buyers, or show how much fuel went to private firms rather than state oil company Cupet.
Trade Without Named Buyers
U.S. fuel exports rose from about US$61.1 million in July, according to a tally of Commerce Department data released on 8 October. U.S. goods exports to Cuba reached US$202.5 million in August, the highest monthly total in Census Bureau records dating to 1992. The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a New York-based organization that compiles official U.S. trade data on Cuba, reported the product and port breakdown.
Diesel-type light fuel oil with very low sulphur content led the month’s exports at about US$34.5 million. Unleaded gasoline accounted for about US$24.4 million, and other petroleum oils for about US$12.7 million. Smaller shipments included liquefied propane worth about US$1.3 million, 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 table records export values and routes, but not which companies sold the fuel or which Cuban entities received it.
From January through August, U.S. fuel exports to Cuba totaled about US$231.7 million. All U.S. goods exports reached US$876.5 million, already above the full-year 2025 total of US$809.6 million. Fuel represented about 26% of U.S. exports to Cuba across those eight months. Imports from Cuba came to about US$0.1 million in August.
Licenses and State Control
The U.S. embargo, in force since 1962, bans most trade with Cuba, but licenses and exceptions permit some exports. Diario de Cuba, an independent Cuban news site published from Madrid, said the exceptions are meant 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.
The figures don’t establish how much fuel went to private businesses, how much went to Cupet, how cargoes were paid for, or whether anyone re-exported fuel. Havana accuses Washington of using the licenses to create economic dependence. Diario de Cuba reported that oil shipments from Venezuela and Mexico stopped after a U.S. tariff threat in January, and that the United States has since become Cuba’s main fuel supplier through private channels.
Seized Cargo, Continuing Shortfall
The Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury unit that administers sanctions, blacklisted Havana fuel wholesaler ENETEC S.A. on 13 July 2026. On 7 October, U.S. federal agents announced they had seized 90 Cuba-bound biodiesel shipments worth more than US$2.8 million, or 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 on 8 October. 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. The figures don’t indicate a change in U.S. policy; the embargo remains in force.
Fuel trade hasn’t ended the power cuts. The Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, described by Diario de Cuba as the country’s main plant, broke down on 9 October. The publication reported that it was the plant’s 23rd shutdown of 2026; with the plant out of service, the peak-hour shortfall topped 2,000 megawatts, based on its count from state grid forecasts. The Census Bureau scheduled the release of September trade figures for 4 November 2026.