Cuban Energy Minister Addresses Severe Shortage of Fuels on the Island

 

Havana, April 17 (ACN) Cuba’s Energy and Mining Minister Vicente de la O Levy told local TV that the main cause for the severe shortage of fuels on the island has to do with unmet contracts by providers who are facing production problems.

The world economic and energy crisis has strongly hit the island nation given the strengthen US blockade of Cuba which hinders the country’s efforts to hire tankers, find financing and meet usual fuel contracts.

Given the current scenario, Cuban authorities began to distribute fuels in volumes lower than usual in an effort to avoid exhaustion, the minister said and also informed that after new negotiations with the usual providers, diesel and gasoline contracts will begin to be honored but in a limited way in April and May. This means that there will be increasing fuel availability, but not at the same levels of 2017 and 2018, he said and noted that the slight increase will particularly favor services like passenger transportation, hospital services, import of goods and some agricultural efforts like the potato harvest.