Cuba and Sugar Lobby
Venezuela has been the primary crude oil supplier to Cuba for decades with Russia also sending some crude to Cuba. However, political corruption, civil unrest, cash flow problems, off-and-on U.S. sanctions, etc., has caused Venezuela’s oil shipments to Cuba to decline from 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to 32,600 bpd in 2024.
Mexico has picked-up some of the slack by supplying Cuba with more and more crude oil and refined fuels since early 2023.
From January through September 2024, Mexico provided some 20,000 bpd of crude to Cuba. In all of 2023, Mexico exported about 16,000 bpd of crude and refined products to Cuba.
Mexico’s subsidiary of state-run Petroleos Mexicanos told the Securities and Exchange Commission that sales are made using peso-denominated contracts and are valued at market prices.