In Guanajuato, 70% of gas stations have no fuel; economic impact called severe

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January 23, 2019

'There is no gasoline' nor is there a date on which it can be expected, says sign in Guanajuato.

Almost three weeks after gasoline shortages began affecting Guanajuato, 70% of gas stations in the state have no fuel, according to authorities.

Gas station closures have been reported in most parts of the state including the cities of Guanajuato, León and Irapuato as well as rural municipalities.

Mauricio Usabiaga, Secretary for Sustainable Economic Development, said the shortages have affected at least 50% of Guanajuato’s economy.

“The [economic] impact due to the lack of gasoline in Guanajuato has been severe, especially in cities like León and Irapuato, which represent more than 85% of the state’s wealth,” he said.

“Now we’re trying to raise awareness of the situation with the federal government . . . in order to receive support, we’re also looking for options such as attracting investment for a [new fuel] storage center . . . Business people are looking for legal, economic and social certainty” Usabiaga added.

Paulo Bañuelos Rosales, a lawmaker for Guanajuato’s ruling National Action Party (PAN), said that if shortages persist, agriculture could be among the sectors that are hardest hit.

The industry has already recorded losses of more than 200 million pesos (US $10.5 million), according to the state Agricultural Development Secretariat.

Bañuelos said that farmers in municipalities such as Abasolo, Cuerámaro and Pueblo Nuevo are becoming increasingly angry about the situation and have threatened to protest.

“They’ve been telling me that they were going to block the highways but I told them that was not something that would help us to solve the problem,” he said.

The lawmaker said the fuel shortages have meant that many farmers have been unable to harvest their crops.

“We’re talking about 15% or 20% of more than 130,000 producers [who are affected]. It’s mainly those who grow vegetables . . . The corn is still a little bit pale and you can keep it on the plant but you can’t do that with onions and bell peppers. Of course, they get marked and they no longer meet the quality to be exported . . . It’s having a very big impact on the agricultural sector,” Bañuelos said.

Meanwhile, in Jalisco, where 85% of gas stations in Guadalajara and 80% in the rest of the state remained closed yesterday, Governor Enrique Alfaro took to Twitter to question why the shortage crisis was worse there than in other parts of Mexico.

“It’s not controversial to say that the size of the fuel shortage problem . . . in Jalisco is very different to the rest of the country. It’s worrying that here it’s been going on almost 19 days while in other places, such as Mexico City, they only had three days of crisis,” he wrote in the first of several tweets on the subject.

Alfaro also took aim at the state oil company and the federal government, charging that they had let Jalisco down despite the state government doing everything that was asked of it.

“We helped to reinforce security for the tanker trucks and guaranteed their entry to the city, we’re collaborating with the protection and surveillance of pipelines, we strengthened the patrolling of distribution centers and operations to combat fuel thieves,” he wrote.

“However, as we have said from the beginning, Pemex and other federal agencies haven’t shared precise information that is useful to take the necessary decisions . . . so that the citizens suffer the negative effects as little as possible . . . It’s very concerning that the metropolitan area of Guadalajara is receiving just 40% of the daily fuel it requires,” the governor continued.

“We’ve complied with all the requests that have been made to us but if the federal government doesn’t assume its responsibility and generate certainty for the residents of Jalisco, we will take preventative measures on a larger scale to contain the impact of this unprecedented crisis on Jalisco and the country.”

Source: El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp)

El Popo volcano erupts, sends ash plume two kilometers high

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César Hernández

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January 23, 2019

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The Popocatépetl volcano sent a two-kilometer ash plume in an eruption last night, triggering an ash fall alert for communities in the vicinity.

The 9:06pm eruption was accompanied by the emission of incandescent material that fell a few meters from the crater on the eastern slope of the volcano and the two-kilometer-high plume of ash, water vapor and gases.

The explosion was heard in nearby towns and caused windows and doors to vibrate as far away as Puebla city, located 44 kilometers to the east of the volcano.

Authorities have issued recommendations following the low-scale eruption, including limiting open-air activities, bringing pets indoors and avoiding eating meals outside.

Anyone who goes outside is advised to wear a face mask, a long-sleeved garment and a hat. Once back indoors, people should rinse their eyes and throats with water.

Special attention should be given to water tanks and other water sources for human and animal use, keeping them covered and protected from the volcanic ash.

Hiking near the crater is not advised, as the emission of incandescent material and other ballistic fragments is expected to continue.

The alert for Popocatépetl remains at yellow, Phase 2, which means that the release of water vapor and gas plumes is to be expected, as is the light fall of ash in nearby areas along with incandescent fragments.

The alert level also warns of the possibility of eruptions causing pyroclastic flows and mudslides carrying debris, although at such a small scale that evacuation of inhabited areas is not required.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Lawmaker creates furore by suggesting curfew for women to combat femicide

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Madison Koen

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January 23, 2019

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Ferráez suggested a curfew but later recanted.

A Veracruz lawmaker has backed down after suggesting there be a 10:00pm curfew for women as a measure to counter femicide.

Ana Miriam Ferráez generated an uproar on social media after saying women in Veracruz should remain indoors after 10:00pm to prevent femicides “until the situation is fixed.”

She has since apologized for the statement.

The legislator’s comments, along with the disbelief of reporter Gabriela Rosgado, were captured in a video that has since received thousands of views and comments on social media.

The reporter can be heard saying “No freaking way!” in an immediate reaction to Ferráez’s comment.

In an interview later Rosgado said she did not know she was being recorded, though she does not regret her initial response. She added that while she believed the idea to be absurd, she had not intended to be disrespectful or to make fun of the legislator.

The latter told a press conference that she made the comment out of a profound personal sense of pain over gender-motivated violence in Veracruz.

She added that she never intended to victimize women or to limit their freedoms and expressed solidarity for those who suffer from discrimination, misogyny and gender-based violence.

“Humans make mistakes, and it is with humility that I would like to reiterate my apology to all of the women who were hurt by my comments.”

Veracruz was the state with the highest number of recorded femicides in 2018 and is also one of the states with the highest rates of violent crimes against women.

Source: El Universal (sp), Excélsior (sp)

Gasoline supply improving in Aguascalientes: Pemex

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César Hernández

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January 23, 2019

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A police vehicle in Aguascalientes had to be towed to the nearest gas station.

Pemex says the gasoline supply in the state of Aguascalientes is gradually improving, but the shortages are still causing problems — even for local police.

The state oil company said it distributed 3.2 million liters of gasoline and diesel on Sunday and Monday, focusing its efforts on the gas stations with the lowest reserves.

Half that volume was distributed on Monday to 149 stations.

But it wasn’t soon enough for a municipal police vehicle. After running out of gas, it had to be towed to the nearest gas station.

That brought criticism from one motorist who was filling up at the time.

Mario Torres suggested that police departments should have their own fuel supplies and tankers, and pointed out that three of the four gas pumps were being used exclusively for police vehicles.

” . . . We need security, but we also need to work,” he said.

A local businessman took a more positive view even though he arrived at the gas station pushing his truck after it ran out of fuel.

“It’s an effort . . . but if corruption comes to an end with all of this, I don’t mind pushing my truck for 10 blocks,” said Francisco Santoyo.

Cab driver Héctor de León said he was not working as much as he could because he needs to line up at a gas station and lose precious time while potential customers are looking for transportation.

People are waiting for buses that don’t stop because they’re already full, he said.

Source: El Heraldo Aguascalientes (sp), Milenio (sp)

17 hospitalized after eating methamphetamine-laced roast chicken

By

Madison Koen

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January 23, 2019

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At least 17 people were hospitalized Sunday after consuming roast chicken that turned out to contain methamphetamine.

Customers who bought the chicken from a street vendor in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, reported symptoms of rapid heart rate, insomnia, cerebral hemorrhaging, extreme agitation and convulsions among others.

A 57-year-old woman had to be transferred to Ciudad Juárez for more urgent care after she experienced convulsions and a possible stroke.

In light of the symptoms, a local health official ordered antidoping tests, which came back positive for methamphetamine. Alma Rosa Valles said the health department would continue to investigate and urged the victims and their families to file police reports to denounce the incident.

Meth can be deadly in high dosages and can cause heart attacks, strokes and respiratory arrest.

A family member of one of the victims turned a piece of the suspect chicken over to authorities, who sent it to the state capital for laboratory analysis.

State authorities are investigating, although the whereabouts of the chicken vendor, who operated under the name Pollos Rigo, remains unknown.

Source: Sipse (sp), El Sol de México (sp)

Losses mounting as teachers’ blockades strand 140 trains in Michoacán

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Tony Richards

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January 23, 2019

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More than 140 trains are stranded in Michoacán due to teachers’ union blockades that went up just over a week ago.

Railroad operator Kansas City Southern de México said the petroleum industry is one of those most affected. One of the trains consists of 96 tanker cars destined for the refinery in Tula, Hidalgo, said company president José Zozaya.

Another rail operator said other industries are also suffering from the impact of the blockades. Ferromex spokeswoman Lourdes Arana said 8,000 containers of goods are awaiting shipment in the ports of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, and Manzanillo, Colima.

She urged that education officials in the Michoacán government negotiate with the teachers, members of the CNTE union, who are demanding the payment of monies that they claim have been owed since 2017.

Zozaya called on teachers to negotiate away from the railroad tracks.

“We understand that the teachers have their reasons [for the blockades] but I would invite them to negotiate away from the railway because they are not only impacting industry in Michoacán and Mexico but railroad workers and those in other sectors whose incomes have been affected by the blockades.”

President López Obrador today offered money to pay the teachers, but insisted that it would be in the form of a loan.

“It’s the Michoacán government’s problem because they haven’t paid the teachers.”

He said the federal government won’t be blackmailed by the state.

The Mexican Association of Shipping Agents said yesterday that losses total 820 million pesos (US $43 million) as a result of the stoppage although other estimates put the cost at closer to 8 billion pesos.

Source: El Sol de Centro (sp), Heraldo de México (sp), Reforma (sp)

Theft is the problem today, aging pipelines will be next challenge

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MND Staff

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January 22, 2019

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In orange, aging pipelines at medium risk; in blue, those that are high risk. Figures indicate kilometers. el universal

The vulnerability of Mexico’s petroleum pipelines to theft is well known but the country’s natural gas lines are also cause for concern.

The National Gas Control Center (Cenagas), the federal agency responsible for the surveillance and maintenance of Mexico’s 12,678-kilometer-long natural gas pipeline network, has detected that 70% of the ducts have been in operation for 35 years or longer and have deteriorated to such an extent that they don’t meet current safety and regulatory requirements.

On average, natural gas pipelines function at an optimal level for 30 years, after which they should undergo extensive maintenance to extend their lifespan or be replaced.

Some sections of the pipeline network, including parts located in the cities of Reynosa, Monterrey, Torreón and Chihuahua, have been identified as requiring urgent attention because they could create “dangerous conditions” for residents and the environment.

Their state of disrepair could also threaten the continued supply of fuel to customers, Cenagas said.

The agency, a division of the Secretariat of Energy (Sener) that was created in 2014, inherited responsibility for the outdated gas pipeline network from Pemex.

Two years ago, it requested almost 200 billion pesos (US $10.4 billion at today’s exchange rate) to carry out maintenance and modernization of the pipeline network including its monitoring and control systems.

But despite the importance of the projects and the inherent risks of out-of-date pipelines, the modernization work, which should have been completed last year, has not even begun, the newspaper El Universal reported.

Just under 666 kilometers of pipelines in the natural gas network — or 5% — are considered to be high risk and 8,166 kilometers — 64% — are classified as medium risk, according to Cenagas.

Source: El Universal (sp)

3.8 billion pesos in aid for 91 municipalities with high rate of pipeline theft

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MND Staff

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January 22, 2019

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The president announced the new aid program at his daily press conference.

President López Obrador announced today that 91 municipalities where high levels of fuel theft have been detected will receive more than 3.8 billion pesos in social development aid.

Speaking at his daily press conference, López Obrador said the budget for the so-called Well-Being Plan was 3.85 billion pesos (US $200 million) and would benefit almost 1.7 million people.

Municipalities in eight states – Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Hidalgo, México state, Querétaro, Puebla and Veracruz – and Mexico City will be included.

The president said the aim of the specially tailored plan is to provide options and alternatives for citizens in the selected areas so they have the opportunity to earn a legal and honest income.

That, López Obrador said, will lead people away from crime and stop tragedies such as the petroleum pipeline explosion in Hidalgo on Friday that killed at least 91 people.

The programs that make up the Well-Being Plan are the senior citizens’ pension; the disability pension; cash grants for farmers; the “Youths Building the Future” apprenticeship scheme; grants for business owners; and the Benito Juárez National Scholarship System for students.

López Obrador said the plan has “already started” and will be consolidated next month with the delivery of funds directly to the beneficiaries.

“No resources will be given to any agency, any organization, any group,” he said.

The president said that the incidence of fuel theft has increased partially because people have been “abandoned” by past governments.

Under his administration, “people won’t be forced by poverty and necessity to . . . collect gasoline and other fuels that, as we have unfortunately seen, means risking and [even] losing one’s life,” López Obrador said.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Animal Político (sp)

New tanker truck drivers will be paid double the private-sector rate

By

MND Staff

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January 22, 2019

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Drivers of the new Pemex trucks will earn double.

New tanker truck drivers employed by the federal government to deliver fuel will earn twice as much or more as many of their counterparts in the private sector, a survey of job advertisements shows.

President López Obrador has pledged to pay bimonthly salaries of 14,500 pesos (US $750) to 2,000 drivers of 571 new tankers purchased by the government to reinforce Pemex’s fleet of fuel distribution vehicles.

In contrast, a recent job ad published by a local recruitment company for a tanker truck driver with a minimum of two years’ experience transporting hazardous materials offers a gross salary of just 8,000 pesos (US $420) a month plus 95 centavos (US 0.05) per kilometer traveled as well as other benefits.

Praxair, an industrial gas company, offered a monthly salary of between 8,000 and 9,000 pesos for a truck driving position in a recent listing on the job search website indeed.com, while wholesale fuel distributor Grupo Petrolero Arca offered 14,000 pesos per month plus benefits and per-kilometer payments for a similar role advertised on the Computrabajo platform.

The newly-employed drivers of the National Defense Secretariat’s 60,000-liter tanker trucks will even be paid a higher base salary than the drivers who currently work for Pemex.

According to their collective labor agreement with the state oil company, Pemex tanker truck drivers are paid 20,220 pesos a month if they work the morning or afternoon shifts and 21,480 pesos (US $1,120) if they work nights.

With benefits, salaries go up to just over 30,000 pesos (US $1,565) a month, a Pemex source told the newspaper El Financiero.

With such enticing salaries on offer, it’s not surprising that interest in the new jobs has been high.

National Defense Secretary Luis Crescencio Sandoval said this week that the government received 6,199 applications, of which 1,365 candidates were short-listed to write an exam and 804 passed.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

Pipeline taps continue to create gasoline shortages in much of Jalisco

By

MND Staff

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January 22, 2019

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A crowd lines up for gas in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Gasoline shortages that have affected several states over the past three weeks are still hitting Jalisco hard: 85% of gas stations in Guadalajara and 80% in the rest of the state remain closed.

The petroleum pipeline between Salamanca, Guanajuato, and Guadalajara reopened Sunday morning but was illegally tapped three times in a single day, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero said.

Although each puncture was repaired, the sabotage caused the pipeline’s service to be patchy so it was unable to transport enough fuel to Jalisco to significantly alleviate the shortages.

The pipeline is now expected to operate every second day, sending 20,000 barrels of gasoline to the Jalisco state capital.

The duct will be opened tomorrow and then again on Friday, state government official Alejandro Guzmán Larralde said.

Meanwhile, gasoline continues to arrive in Jalisco by tanker truck but the deliveries are much slower than those made via pipeline and when it gets to gas stations, it is quickly snaffled up by motorists, including those who cross the border from surrounding states to fill up.

“Stations in the north [of the state], the highlands and the southeast are on the border with communities in the states of Zacatecas, the Bajío region and Michoacán . . . [Residents of] those communities go to service stations that are in [Jalisco] state territory and use up the inventories,” Guzmán said. “Resupply . . . hasn’t kept up . . . .”

In addition, it’s difficult to get fuel to some parts of the state, such as the Sierra de Amula, because of the terrain the tankers have to cross. Long lines of fuel distribution vehicles at terminals in Manzanillo and Mazatlán have also slowed down deliveries.

“Resupply times at gas stations in the interior of the state have been increasing,” Guzmán said.

Jalisco is only receiving enough fuel on a daily basis to meet half of demand, he said, which has increased even further due to panic buying.

That response from motorists has both exacerbated and created shortages in other parts of the country.

At least seven gas stations were closed this morning in Monclova, Coahuila, while there were long lines of motorists waiting to fill up at those that were open.

Ricardo Zertuche Martínez, president of the local chapter of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce (Canaco), said he had spoken to Monclova gas station owners and they told him that panic buying was to blame for the lack of fuel.

Another Monclova business leader, Rolando Rivero Ceballos of the National Chamber for Industrial Transformation (Canacintra), urged people not to place unneeded pressure on gasoline supplies through panic buying.

“. . . Yes, there is gasoline and there will be [more gasoline] . . .” he said.

In Monterrey, Nuevo León, and other municipalities in the city’s metropolitan area some gas stations were also closed this morning and long lines were observed at those that were open.

Leaders of the gas station trade organization Onexpo said that rumors of fuel shortages that circulated on social media set off a buying spree at gas stations in Monterrey that caused some to run out of fuel.

The organization’s Nuevo León president, Carlos Guerra, said that if people resist the urge to make panic purchases, supply at gas stations in Monterrey will return to normal soon.

The federal government has explained that the gasoline shortages in more than 10 states were the result of President López Obrador’s decision to close several major petroleum pipelines as part of the strategy to combat fuel theft.

But there have also been claims that reduced gasoline imports from the United States, inefficiency at Mexico’s oil refineries and insufficient investment in logistics infrastructure have contributed to the shortages.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp)