A fire broke out on the afternoon of Friday, February 13, at the Ñico López refinery, in the Bay of Havana. The conflagration, which affected one of the only three refineries in the country, takes place in the midst of the serious energy crisis that the island faces in the face of the siege from Washington. The fire is under control and its causes "are being investigated", according to the Government.
First modification: 02/13/2026 - 22:54 Last modification: 02/13/2026 - 23:59
A fire of apparently large magnitude, along with a dense column of black smoke, broke out on Friday at the Ñico López oil refinery in Havana, official media and witnesses reported.
According to journalists from the AFP agency, the column of smoke was visible from the other side of the Havana Bay channel, but it is unknown if the fire affected the factory's oil tanks.
Cuba is precisely experiencing a serious and growing energy crisis, deepened by the oil blockade imposed by the US, which has prevented the entry of imported crude oil into the country since January.
The Ñico López Refinery is one of Cuba's oldest oil processing facilities and is a key unloading point for hydrocarbon imports, including recent shipments from Mexico to mitigate the energy crisis.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines assured around 4:20 p.m. local time (20:20 GMT) on social networks that the fire had occurred in a warehouse of the infrastructure and that it was now under control. But, he did not talk about possible injuries or deaths.
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"Controlled fire that occurred this afternoon in one of the warehouses located in the 'Ñico López' Refinery," said the Ministry of Energy and Mines in X. "The causes are being investigated," it stated.
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The tragedy of 2022
In August 2022, the super fuel tanker base in the province of Matanzas (west), the country's main strategic reserves infrastructure, burned in flames due to a lightning strike, causing 17 deaths.
That fire destroyed four of the eight tanks at the Matanzas depot, the most important in the country, with the capacity to store 52 million liters of fuel, and was put out a week later with the help of Mexico and Venezuela.
Read alsoCuba declares the end of the largest fire reported in its history
With EFE and AFP
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