by Jim Barton, Sources: El Bravo, Reuters
While motorists in Mexico City, Nuevo Le贸n, the State of Mexico, and Chiapas report gasoline shortages, state oil company Pemex has continued shipping fuel to Cuba in large volumes. Between May 29 and June 27 of this year, Pemex registered with customs authorities the departure of 39 hydrocarbon shipments bound for the island, valued at more than $850 million, about 16 billion pesos. That figure nearly equals the $1 billion worth of oil exports Pemex sent to Cuba during the previous two years combined.
According to foreign trade databases such as Veritrade, the shipments included more than 10,000 barrels of crude oil and 132.5 million liters of jet fuel, oil, diesel, and regular gasoline. The exports were carried out through Gasolinas del Bienestar, a Pemex subsidiary created to handle hydrocarbon sales to Cuba. Satellite data reviewed by Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) confirmed that shipments continued into July, with the Cuban tanker Sandino recently observed anchored in front of Pemex’s Pajaritos terminal in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.
Gasolinas del Bienestar has reported heavy losses since its creation. In its first year of operations, the company recorded 5.836 billion pesos in debt, much of it tied to fuel donations to Cuba. An external audit found that Pemex subsidizes shipments to the island, with sales reported in 2023 and 2024 totaling nearly 19 billion pesos, almost identical to costs, leaving minimal profit.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office in October 2024, has pledged to continue the policy initiated by Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador of sending fuel to Cuba, calling it a humanitarian measure. Customs records show that of the 38 shipments registered so far this year, all but one departed from Coatzacoalcos; the exception left from Tampico, carrying 6.8 million liters of diesel. The Cuban company Coreydan, SA, headquartered in the same building as state oil firm CUPET in Havana, appeared as importer on most transactions. In at least one case, the Mexican Foreign Ministry was listed as importer.
The shipments have been carried on a mix of Pemex-owned and Cuban-flagged vessels, including the Bicentenario, Ocean Mariner, and the Sandino. Records show repeated voyages between Mexican ports and Cuban refineries since 2023.
Meanwhile, Pemex’s domestic operations have faced mounting difficulties. In recent days, drivers in Mexico City and Monterrey have found stations closed or limiting service due to a lack of Magna and Premium gasoline. Shortages have also been reported in Chiapas, where protests have erupted over Pemex’s unpaid debts to suppliers.
President Sheinbaum has insisted that the problem is not a lack of fuel but a logistics bottleneck, tied in part to contracts for tanker trucks. She said vehicles acquired in 2019 under L贸pez Obrador’s government to fight fuel theft are now being transferred from the Defense Ministry to Pemex to improve distribution. “There is no shortage, and any issues related to transport contracts are being resolved,” she told reporters on Thursday.
Pemex issued a statement late Thursday acknowledging “temporary” problems in gasoline distribution in the capital and surrounding areas due to fewer available tankers but said it is implementing measures to reinforce supply, with additional delivery units expected to come online in the coming hours.
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