Oil tankers are seen anchored in Lake Maracaibo after loading crude oil at Venezuela’s Bajo Grande Refinery port on December 4, 2025. Photo by José Bula Urrutia/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.
The US government declared on Wednesday, February 25, that it does not completely prohibit the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, marking a shift in its stance toward the island, which is suffering from the tightening of the oil blockade imposed by the United States.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency responsible for the US unilateral coercive measures, published a statement on its website expressing its willingness to favorably consider license applications from entities wishing to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba.
It stated that this is a measure of “support and solidarity with the Cuban people.”
The OFAC added that transactions must not under any circumstances benefit “individuals or companies linked to the military, intelligence services, or other Cuban government institutions.”
Venezuela had been the main supplier of crude oil and fuel to its political ally Cuba for more than 25 years through a bilateral agreement. However, since December 3, 2025, the US has imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela and since then has stolen all tankers carrying oil from Venezuela to Cuba. Mexico, which had become an alternative supplier, recently suspended shipments to Cuba under US threats. The last Mexican fuel shipment arrived in Havana in January, according to shipping data.
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US President Donald Trump has threatened that Venezuela’s allies who received its oil as part of swaps, debt payments, and other agreements must now pay fair market prices for the shipments. These allies include China and Cuba.
The authorization comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio started his Caribbean tour on Wednesday to begin talks with leaders who have decried that the growing humanitarian crisis in Cuba could destabilize the region.
Even with the new policy, it is unclear if Cuba can afford to buy oil without favorable conditions. Given that Cuba has had difficulties paying for fuel imports on the spot market in recent years, any possible purchase from traders is expected to require regular commercial conditions, such as bank guarantees and cash payments.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/JRE
