He's after fuel cuts (6)

I believe the answer is:
gashes
'cuts' is the definition.
('gash' can be a synonym of 'cut')
'he's after fuel' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'he's' could be 'hes' and 'hes' is present in the answer.
'fuel' could be 'gas' (gas is a fuel) and 'gas' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gashes that I've seen before include "Deep cuts or wounds" , "Deep cuts made with a sharp instrument" , "Makes deep cut or wound" .)