Panic buying of gasoline and Pemex’s failure to deliver supplies has been blamed for what gas station owners described as “a crisis” in the state of Puebla.
The story in Puebla was the same as across Mexico as motorists rushed to fill their tanks before yesterday’s hike in gasoline and diesel prices in a stampede that began New Year’s Eve.
But Pemex failed to make deliveries on 1 January, said an organization representing gas station owners in Puebla and Tlaxcala, and some stations were forced to close. Others restricted sales to a maximum of 300 pesos per customer and refused to fill jerrycans.
Gasolineros Unidos de Puebla y Tlaxcala said shortages were affecting 150 stations.
The state oil company admitted today that there were gasoline and diesel shortages at various stations in Puebla but assured that addressing the problem was a priority for the company.
Fuel prices went up between 12% and 20% as federal authorities prepare for the full liberalization of fuel prices, a process that begins in March, and attempt to set prices that more closely reflect their costs.
Prices now vary throughout Mexico. In Puebla, the average price increase for gasoline was 16.9%. In the city of Puebla, magna-brand gas now costs 15.78 pesos per liter. Premium-brand went to 17.55 pesos and diesel to 16.85.
Pemex said Saturday there were shortages of magna gasoline in Querétaro and San Luis Potosí in addition to Puebla, and that 155 of 11,400 gas stations were affected.
A company spokesman said in an interview that supplies would be back to normal in the three states this week. Initially there were 150 stations with low supply levels; that number had been reduced to 64, said the official.
He said demand was expected to reach 970,000 barrels daily during the final week of the year, which is up from the annual average daily demand of 815,000. However, demand went 6-8% higher than anticipated.
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