lining up for days — occasionally even more than a week — to fill up with diesel in Cuba

[El Presidente]

Diesel lacking for Cuba drivers as fuel used for electricity

Some drivers have been lining up for days — occasionally even more than a week — to fill up with diesel in Cuba

ByANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press

July 17, 2022, 4:04 AM

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Drivers wait their turn to fuel their vehicles at a gas station in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, July 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The Associated Press

 

HAVANA -- Dany Pérez had spent four days in a line of vehicles waiting to fill his truck with diesel he needs for the 900-kilometers (560-mile) trip from Havana to his home in eastern Cuba.

Taxi driver Jhojan Rodríguez had been waiting at another station even longer — it was nearing two weeks — but he was finally near the head of the line of hundreds of vehicles in the Playa district of the capital.

Such lines have become increasingly common in Cuba, where officials apparently have been sending scarce diesel fuel to power generation plants rather than fuel stations for vehicles.

It's not the first time the island has suffered fuel shortages, but it's one of worst.

“I have seen pretty bad situations, but not like now,” said the 46-year-old Pérez, who was eating and sleeping in his 1950s-era Chevrolet truck,which he had outfitted to haul some 40 passengers.

 

Drivers in the lines have tried to organize themselves by creating lists of those waiting and updating them daily as they wait for tanker trucks to arrive with fuel. Because of the lists, those who live nearby can go home for spells — keeping track of any progress via a WhatsApp grou“I'm a professional taxi driver. ... I pay taxes, social security. I'm legally established," said Rodríguez, the 37-year-old owner of a gold-and-white 1954 Oldsmobile whose worn-out gasoline engine at some point had been replaced with a diesel. “My home, my family depend on this diesel.”The car had run out of fuel and Rodríguez had to push it into the line. That was 12 days earlier. Authorities say drivers can only fill their tanks, but not other containers. For Rodríguez, that's 60 liters (16 gallons), which he said will last him three days.The recent fuel shortage largely affects diesel — used by heavy vehicles and classic cars whose original engines were long ago swapped out, often with Eastern European truck engines — rather than the gasoline used by most cars.Rodriguez expressed frustration at the lack of clear explanations from officials.“Nobody has said ‘this is what is happening’ with the fuel,'" Rodríguez said. “If at some point there was information that, ´Look, there is no fuel because the situation of the country requires it to give electricity to people,' I would understand.”Experts — agreeing with scuttlebutt in the streets — say the country can't afford to buy all the diesel it needs and what it has is being directed to generate power.“What we are seeing is what we call the domino effect," said Jorge Piñon, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas in Austin.“The collapse of the thermoelectric plants has caused an increased demand for diesel generation groups. Venezuela has not been sending Cuba the quantity of diesel it needs, so Cuba has had to take part of the supply that was dedicated to the transport sector for the diesel electric generation groups," he said.Half of Cuba's electricity comes from 13 thermoelectric plants, eight of which are more than 30 years old. They usually depend on the island's own heavy crude oil, but their operation has been erratic. So the island turns to diesel units to try to cover the shortfall

 

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/diesel-lacking-cuba-drivers-fuel-electricity-86941378

[Corylax18]

I'll be out in a village about 6 hours drive west of Havana next week. I'm only expecting 4-6 hours of power each day. I'm hearing it's not as bad in Havana,  but there have still been outages. The shortages definitely relate to power generation and not enough fuel. Both diesel and heavy fuel oil. 

 

[JohnnyO]

This is Fidel's ultimate Jedi-mind-trick. About 15 years ago the Cuban government authorized the sales of diesel engines to be put in the old 50's cars. There were several brands; Kia, Toyota, Peugeot, Hyundai etc. The idea was that diesel fuel engines were more efficient and diesel fuel was cheaper on the parallel markets. A lot cheaper. I even remember a family member saying they had a hard time getting rid of it at 3 CUP/liter in the early 2000's. However, all of these imported engines were used and needed an overhaul within its 1st year. These engines were about $7000 for the Toyotas. Kinda pricey for an engine on its last legs. Also, the engine swap had to be authorized by the government and they were the only ones authorized to sell the engines. The guys that got in the beginning made out well. They got into it to make money, a lot had several   cars running 24 hours. The owners of these vehicles had money, houses and little side businesses. Today diesel and gas are about the same price, 25 CUP/liter. Thats about $1 USD gallon. So the diesel engines hardly make any more sense for the locals. The rationing or absence of diesel fuel "story" that the government has put out about needing it for their power generators is just that, a story. Diesel and gasoline are refined from the same crude oil being brought in from Venezuela/Nicaragua/Mexico or wherever they say its coming from. So if you refine one, you can refine the other. The true "story" is they want to piss off even further the remaining locals that own these diesel vehicles so that they will sell them and all their properties/businesses and leave the country. The other option would be to find your old engine that you sold for pennies on the dollar and put it back in. People will just get fed up and leave if they have the means. You see, its easier to control the broken down poor. Cory, you're a brave soul wandering off in the woods like that. Rambo would be proud of you. John