Fire at Havana's Ñico López Refinery Deepens Cuba's Energy Crisis

A major fire erupted Friday afternoon at the Ñico López refinery in Havana’s bay, sending a thick column of black smoke visible across the capital and alarming residents already suffering through weeks of record blackouts and fuel shortages.

What we know

According to Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, the fire started around 4:20 p.m. local time in a warehouse storing an unused additive product, not in crude processing areas. Authorities said the blaze was quickly brought under control and that causes are under investigation.

No injuries or deaths have been reported. Two oil tankers were docked near the site of the fire, AFP journalists on the scene confirmed.

Infrastructure at its limit

Ñico López is Cuba’s largest and oldest refinery, one of only three in the entire country. Nationalized in 1960, it can process both heavy domestic crude and imported petroleum. However, it has suffered from technical problems for years and sits in a densely populated area of Havana.

As El País reported, the refinery serves as the main unloading point for hydrocarbon imports — imports that have plummeted since Washington cut Venezuelan crude shipments in January and threatened tariffs on any country supplying oil to the island.

The ghost of Matanzas

The incident inevitably recalls the Matanzas supertanker base disaster of August 2022, when lightning sparked a fire that took a full week to control. That catastrophe — the worst industrial disaster in Cuba’s recent history — killed 17 people and destroyed four tanks with 50,000 cubic meter capacity.

While the Ñico López fire appears far smaller in scale, any incident at Cuba’s petroleum infrastructure is especially grave given the current context, with the island barely able to keep its thermoelectric plants running.

Crisis upon crisis

This fire caps a devastating week for Cuba:

• Record blackouts leaving up to 64% of the country without power
• Flight suspensions from Canada, Russia, and reduced Cubana de Aviación frequencies
• Arrival of Mexican humanitarian aid by naval ships
• UN experts’ condemnation of the energy blockade

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that Cuba is on the brink of “collapse” if its oil needs aren’t met.