The federal energy secretary today named the gas station chains which sold the cheapest and most expensive fuel in Mexico last week.
Speaking at President López Obrador’s morning press conference, Rocío Nahle also revealed the states in which the filling stations with the lowest and highest gasoline prices were located.
For regular fuel – known in Mexico as magna – PetroSeven was the cheapest chain between April 6 and 12, with an average price of 18.74 pesos per liter (US $0.99, or $3.76 a gallon).
Arco was the next cheapest, selling magna for 18.91 pesos per liter on average, while Pemex affiliate Rendichicas was third, with a price of 19.18 pesos.
Shell sold the most expensive regular fuel last week, averaging 20.23 pesos per liter, followed by G500 and Full Gas, both of which had an average price of 19.89 pesos.
For premium fuel, PetroSeven was again the cheapest followed by Arco and Gulf, with prices ranging between 20.35 pesos and 20.54 pesos.
Shell also had the most expensive premium fuel last week, averaging 21.61 pesos per liter, followed by Walmart and Oxxo Gas, with prices of 21.24 and 21.2 pesos respectively.
Nahle said the 10 gas stations with the lowest prices for regular fuel were in México state, Tamaulipas, Campeche, Veracruz and Puebla. The lowest price seen was 14.28 pesos per liter, 24% less than PetroSeven’s average.
The 10 filling stations with the highest magna prices were in Nayarit, Durango, Sonora, Michoacán and Chihuahua. The highest price charged for a liter of fuel was 22.99 pesos.
The cheapest premium fuel was found at stations in Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Chihuahua and Guerrero (the lowest price seen was 16.56 pesos per liter), while the most expensive premium gasoline was sold in Guanajuato, Sinaloa and Chiapas (the highest price was 23.76 pesos).
López Obrador, who last week said the federal government could go into retail fuel sales if gas station owners don’t charge “fair prices,” reiterated yesterday that some of them are “taking advantage” of their customers.
“We’re ensuring that the [gasoline] price doesn’t increase but the distributors, not all of them, are taking advantage. It’s given to them at 16 pesos and they’re selling it at 19 or 20 pesos. They’re left with a profit margin that is higher than before,” he said.
The government has pledged that fuel prices will not increase beyond the annual inflation rate and last month increased a stimulus scheme for gasoline that is designed to alleviate the burden of the IEPS excise tax.
However, it appears that not all gas stations have passed on the savings to their customers.
