The Great Energy Divide: Why Jamaica Refuses to Sell Gas to Cuba

The Great Energy Divide: Why Jamaica Refuses to Sell Gas to Cuba

In the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, a new kind of "Cold War" is simmering—not one fought with ideology, but with pipelines and fuel shipments. Despite their geographical proximity and shared history, Jamaica and Cuba find themselves on opposite sides of a deepening energy rift. While Cuba grapples with its most severe power crisis in decades, Jamaica—now a regional leader in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)—has notably abstained from providing gas to its neighbor. The refusal is not a matter of regional animosity, but rather the result of a complex web of US sanctions, geopolitical alliances, and the global resource war between Washington and Beijing.

The Shadow of Washington

The primary obstacle preventing a Jamaica-to-Cuba gas bridge is the United States’ "maximum pressure" campaign against Havana. Jamaica’s energy revolution over the last decade has been built almost entirely on American technology and US-sourced LNG. For Kingston, the stakes of defying the US embargo are existential.

Under the Helms-Burton Act and various secondary sanctions, any Jamaican entity—be it a government body or a private utility—that sells fuel or provides energy infrastructure to Cuba risks being blacklisted from the US financial system. Given that Jamaica’s economy is deeply integrated with the US through tourism, remittances, and trade, the risk of "contagion" from US sanctions makes selling gas to Cuba a financial impossibility for the Jamaican government.

The China Factor

The situation is further complicated by the "resource war" between the US and China. Beijing has become a critical lifeline for Cuba, offering technical assistance and credit for energy projects that the West refuses to touch. From Washington’s perspective, any energy cooperation between Caribbean nations and Cuba is seen as a backdoor for Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Jamaica, while maintaining a pragmatic relationship with China for road construction and infrastructure, has carefully aligned its energy sector with the US-led "Caribbean Energy Security Initiative." By choosing US LNG over other sources, Jamaica has secured its own energy future but has effectively signed onto a regional strategy that isolates Cuba. Providing gas to Havana would be seen by Washington as breaking the "energy shield" designed to keep Chinese-backed Cuban energy needs at bay.

Logistics and Infrastructure

Beyond the high-level politics, there is a stark technical reality: the two nations are running on different "operating systems." Jamaica has invested heavily in LNG regasification terminals and modern gas-to-power plants designed by American firms like New Fortress Energy. Cuba’s grid, meanwhile, remains largely dependent on heavy fuel oil and aging Soviet-era plants, though it is desperately trying to pivot to gas with Chinese help.

Because Jamaica’s gas supply is tied to strict "end-user certificates" from US suppliers, Kingston does not actually have the legal right to re-export that gas to a third party under US sanctions. Even if the political will existed, the lack of interconnected pipelines and the legal handcuffs placed on Jamaican energy firms by their American suppliers make the transaction a logistical non-starter.

A Fragmented Caribbean

The refusal to sell gas highlights a painful truth for the Caribbean: regional integration often takes a backseat to superpower interests. While organizations like CARICOM advocate for regional energy independence, the reality is a fragmented market. Jamaica’s refusal is a survival tactic—a choice to protect its own economic stability and its relationship with the United States over regional solidarity.

As long as the Caribbean remains the frontline for the US-China resource war, the short distance between Kingston and Havana will remain a vast geopolitical chasm. For now, Jamaica will continue to power its grid with American gas, while Cuba looks toward the East, leaving the dream of a unified Caribbean energy market a casualty of global competition.