Mexico surpassed Venezuela and became Cuba's main oil supplier, consolidating a strategic shift that reinforces the communist regime in Havana after the fall of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Data from the energy monitoring firm Kpler reveal this, showing a deep change in the island's supply map.
For years, Venezuela was Cuba's central energy backbone. Between 2020 and 2023, Venezuelan shipments reached peaks close to 30,000 barrels per day. However, that flow collapsed abruptly in 2024 and 2025, in a context marked by sanctions, diversions to the black market and, finally, Maduro's capture by the United States.
Mexico emerged in that vacuum. According to Kpler, the country governed by Claudia Sheinbaum exported in 2025 an average of 12,284 barrels per day of crude oil to Cuba, which represents 44% of the island's total imports. This is a 56% increase compared with the previous year, enough to push Venezuela into second place.
In contrast, Venezuelan shipments fell to about 9,500 barrels per day, just 34% of the total, a volume 63% lower than that recorded in 2023. Russia, Algeria and Libya complete the supplier scheme, although with clearly smaller shares.
