Rely on OPIS for accurate and transparent price discovery in Mexico's fuel markets to seize opportunities and tackle challenges across the border. Read on for the latest news....
The Mexican government under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration has revoked, denied, or allowed to expire more than 500 fuel marketer permits, Mexico City-based energy consultant E-services told OPIS this week.
The firm said energy regulator CRE over that time has allowed 228 fuel marketer permits to expire, while it denied about 60 permit applications and revoked another 300 permits granted earlier.
CRE in 2021 determined that 168 permits had expired and made the same declaration last year on another 60 permits, according to the firm, which focuses on regulatory compliance issues.
CRE in December said 60 fuel marketer permits had expired, including those held by Total Atlantic Trading Mexico, Gulfport Trading, Asfaltos Energex, Hidrocarburos y Energeticos de Tabasco.
CRE may find a permit has expired if the recipient has not used it within a year or if the permit holder failed to meet permit obligations, Alicia Zazueta, general director of E-Services, said.
She said most of the permits CRE has revoked came after the agency determined the holders were not in compliance.
Zazueta predicted that at least another 100 fuel marketers' authorizations will expire this year, adding that there are an 20,000 authorized marketer permits, more than half of which are not being used.
Marcial Diaz, president of Mexico's Association of Regulation in the Energy Sector, said it has been difficult for some companies to use their permits when they are only five fuel major import companies other than state-owned oil company Pemex now doing business in Mexico.
Over the last two year, CRE has not approved any new permits for fuel marketers, he added.
Some industry sources believe CRE had worked to reduce the number of permits held by fuel marketers as part of the administration's push to strengthen Pemex's position in the market.
In addition, Zazueta said a CRE proposal to ban fuel sales between marketers would, if finalized, likely lead to the departure of more companies in the sector.
Reporting by Karla Omaña; komana@opsinet.com
Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
© 2023 Oil Price Information Service, LLC. All rights reserved.
While about 10 fuel stations in the Mexican states of Puebla and Tlaxcala have experienced fuel shortages, the states are not experiencing a major supply disruption, an official with the country's largest retail fuel industry association said Wednesday.
Local media Tuesday reported fuel stations in both states were experiencing shortages because of an employee protest over working conditions at state-owned company Pemex.
Fernando Piña, an official with retail trade group Onexpo Wednesday said no more than 10 of the roughly 500 stations in both states have been affected and said Pemex delivery terminals are operating normally.
Newspaper El Sol de Puebla Tuesday reported that Pemex union workers had blocked the company's fuel delivery terminal in Puebla as part of the action.
The report quoted a local fuel retailer's group as saying the workers' action was preventing the distribution of fuel to more than 500 retail stations, including those owned by Pemex and other companies.
Mexico City-based newspaper Reforma Tuesday also reported that workers were preventing tankers from entering at least 200 fuel distribution units.
OPIS was unable to reach Pemex union officials by the time of publication.
Pemex union representatives last year complained about deteriorating working conditions at the company facilities and employees have expressed concerns over safety conditions at the company's facilities.
Reporting by Karla Omaña; komana@opsinet.com
Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
© 2023 Oil Price Information Service, LLC. All rights reserved.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Thursday said he had resolved complaints from four Canadian companies operating in Mexico's electric power sector.
In his daily meeting with reporters, Lopez Obrador said he met Wednesday with representatives of the four firms and addressed their problems. The meetings came a week after the president said he had agreed in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with Canadian companies to discuss trade complaints.
"I personally, with the economic cabinet attended to the four Canadian companies and we resolved the four problems without any issues, that had to do with the electricity sector," Lopez Obrador said Thursday. He did not identify any of the companies at the meeting.
The U.S. and Canada last summer began talks with Mexico after both countries filed a complaint under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, alleging that Mexican energy policies favored state-owned companies at the expense of private operators.
The talks have been underway for more than five months.
Lopez Obrador held similar meetings with U.S. companies in an effort to address their energy market concerns before the USMCA complaint was filed.
Industry sources said the Mexican president's meetings with foreign companies likely won't likely to be enough to prevent the U.S. and Canada from requesting that the complaint be moved to arbitration should talks fail to resolve their concerns.
Reporting by Karla Omaña, komana@opsinet.com
Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
© 2023 Oil Price Information Service, LLC. All rights reserved.
OPIS, a Dow Jones Company is the first price reporting agency to calculate implied wholesale gasoline and diesel rack costs in the Mexican fuel market. Offering 2 new price discovery options, you'll be able to get unprecedented price transparency in Mexico's changing fuel markets.
The OPIS Mexico Fuels Report features landed spot fuel market index and critical news analysis and OPIS Mexico provides retail, implied and posted wholesale pricing in the developing Mexican gas and diesel market with daily rack prices at all terminals in Mexico.
OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
© 2023 Oil Price Information Service, LLC. All rights reserved.