Mexico fuel crisis: Almost 2,000 sites report shortages
The fuel supply crisis in Mexico continues as the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) found dry pumps at 70% of the 2,809 gas stations it inspected between January 11 and 13.
Profeco informed it its most recent report, which involved the monitoring of half of the 4,652 gas stations operating in Mexico, that 1,952 sites suffered from shortages, signifying the gravity of the situation.
Some 430 inspectors were in charge of monitoring thousands of sites across the states of Aguascalientes, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Querétaro, Tlaxcala, Zacatecas and City of Mexico. Ninety-one consumer complaints were registered.
The activities carried out by Profeco at the sites involved checking that external fuel prices coincide with those displayed at the pump and with the actual quantity dispensed; checking that sealed stations do not have any fuel for sale; and checking that sites do not dispense fuel under certain conditions such as paying with cash or being a frequent client.
“Orientation messages have been circulated through social media reaching more than 2 million people,” said Profeco in a press release.
In the first weeks of January, the Mexican government carried out an extensive campaign to tackle fuel theft – a crime that costs state-run Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) over $3,000 million due to the 5,000 military and police used for surveillance, and the closure of 1,700 kilometres of oil pipelines.
Now most of the distribution is done through road transport, regarded as a safer option. Some 1,600 tanker trucks of Pemex as well as 3,600 privately hired heavy-duty tankers are brining fuel to the country’s gas stations, slowing down the supply process and clogging marine oil terminals, reports Sputnik.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrado has promised that regular fuel supply with resume soon.
