Mexico: Gulf-branded stations enter fuel market

An affiliate of an Indian conglomerate plans to start up Gulf-branded service stations in Mexico this year, positioning itself as the country´s first independent retailer since the country launched comprehensive energy reforms.

The Mexican affiliate of the Hinduja Group, Gulf Mexico, told Argus that it eventually hopes to represent just under 25pc of Mexico’s 12,000 service stations that are currently franchises of state-owned oil company Pemex, whose monopoly over the oil sector has been dismantled under the reform.

Under the new laws, independent companies have been able to apply for permits to open non-Pemex stations since 1 January. They will be able to freely import fuel starting 1 April, before full liberalization and market-driven prices begin on 1 January 2018.

But with less than a month to go, Mexico’s oil regulator CRE and the energy and finance ministries have yet to present the required regulations for fuel imports, generating industry concerns about the framework for the historic opening.

Pemex, which posted its third money-losing year in a row in 2015, has a reputation for providing poor service at the pump. Mexican service station operators are demanding that Pemex improve its standards and services in anticipation of the new competition, with some threatening to switch providers.

Full Content: Argus Media

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