This represents a 91% increase compared with the first nine months of last year, and fuel accounts for 30% of the total.
14ymedio, Madrid, November 5, 2026 – U.S. sales to Cuba continue to grow exponentially, despite the sanctions against Havana, the regime’s complaints about the “blockade,” and verbal confrontations at international venues, such as the one that took place last week at the United Nations General Assembly. While in July exports from the U.S. to the Island during 2026 reached $674 million, surpassing those of Spain and China over the same period, by September 30, they had reached $1.0965 billion, a 91% increase compared to the same period the previous year ($572.8 million), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
August and September, in fact, set new records for exports to Cuba since the agency began tracking them in 1992 with $202.5 million and $220 million, respectively. The reverse flow, imports from the Island, once again barely reached $600,000 since January.
Undoubtedly, the figures reflect the major role played by fuel purchased from the U.S., which has turned Washington into the Island’s leading energy supplier despite the continued sanctions imposed by Trump’s May 1 executive order. In August, fuel accounted for approximately 37% of the total value of U.S. exports to Cuba.
Based on the data available since January, petroleum derivatives are estimated to have accounted for 30% of the Island’s total purchases
Based on the data available since January, petroleum derivatives are estimated to have accounted for 30% of the Island’s total purchases.
That month, the latest for which detailed figures on fuel shipments have been published, the U.S. exported 562,000 barrels to Cuba, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This volume exceeded the 467,000 barrels shipped in May, although it was below the 778,000 barrels in June. (Presumably, the calculation error made in July will not be repeated, when the Census Bureau itself detected an error in one of the shipments sent from Miami, initially recorded as 310,753 barrels of gasoline and subsequently reduced to 127,471.)
In economic terms, fuel imports from the United States reached $74.8 million in August. Between January and August, the value of these shipments totaled $231.7 million, primarily in diesel, gasoline, and lubricants. Washington authorized the business last February, provided that the products were intended for Cuba’s private sector, although it has already acknowledged something documented by 14ymedio: that the regime diverts fuel to the state sector.
Meanwhile, in recent months, previously unknown companies have emerged with remarkable speed. One example is A Granel, a foreign-capital micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) that became the first private company to promote itself as a seller of U.S.-imported fuel in Havana and the first sports sponsor of a sports team in Cuba, the Industriales, whose players wear its logo on their jerseys during this 65th National Baseball Series. Its latest achievement has been venturing into a new and lucrative field: selling water tanker trucks, amid an unprecedented water crisis in the country. Its prosperity is evident even in its sign: on Wednesday night, while much of the capital was plunged into the usual scheduled blackout, the illuminated sign bearing the company’s name shone brightly in the darkness.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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