The price, verified by 14ymedio, has turned one of the most basic ingredients in Cuban cooking into a luxury item. The 4,500-peso price verified by this newspaper is not even the highest being charged. Without enough supply to meet demand, the administrative ceiling ended up driving cooking oil out of regulated stores without lowering its price on the informal market. The Municipal Administration Council in Guantanamo, for example, has set the retail price of a bottle of cooking oil at 2,200 pesos after reviewing the costs declared by local merchants. Cooking oil is not biodiesel, and its higher viscosity can clog fuel injectors, leave deposits, and ultimately damage the engine’s fuel system.