According to the Associated Press, U.S.-based Gulf Oil LP announced on Friday March 11th that it is entering Mexico’s gasoline retail market, becoming the first foreign company to do so under an energy overhaul that loosened more than seven decades of government monopoly in the sector.
The company will open its first four gas stations in Mexico City and Monterrey by the month of June, and aims to operate at least 100 nationwide by the end of the year, said Sergio de la Vega, Gulf’s director for Mexico. In the next three years it hopes to reach 2,000.
De la Vega said Gulf has a target of 25 percent of the national market, which currently comprises more than 10,000 gas stations across Mexico.
The company intends “to give Mexicans a choice,” de la Vega said.
Lars Buttler, partner-president and member of the Gulf México Council; Juan López, network development director; Sergio de la Vega Gulf’s director for Mexico, and Felipe Luna Melo, Gulf Mexico infrastructure director (Photo: mundoejecutivo.com.mx)
Until now all gas stations in the country have been franchises of state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, better known as Pemex.
Mexican gas stations sell fuel at a fixed price, and Gulf will be subject to the same system. However, officials have said that in the future (2018 probably), they may allow prices at the pump to vary according to market forces.
Friday’s announcement came as the Mexican government is looking to accelerate its opening of the fuel market in an attempt to spur investment, as slumping global oil prices have forced the country to slash its budget.
Under a recent change, private businesses will be able to import gasoline and diesel beginning April 1 instead of in 2017 as initially planned.
Mexico nationalized its oil industry in 1938. President Enrique Pena Nieto pushed through legislation opening up the sector in 2014, arguing that private involvement and investment were necessary to reverse falling production.
Gulf’s headquarters are in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/