Mexico City.- In Mexico, the number of illegal gasoline sales outlets, at least those that have been counted, almost doubles the number of service stations that are regulated.
Currently, there are 13,823 valid service station permits, while the number of irregular self-consumption points reaches 22,000, according to estimates by the Mexican Association of Service Station Suppliers (AMPES).
That is, there are 1.6 illegal sales points for every regulated gas station.
“There are almost 22 thousand illegal self-consumptions, 22 thousand points that basically can come from illegal imports or mixtures between fuels and alcohols and that largely goes to these self-consumptions that do not have a permit from the CRE, they do not have any type of regulation.
“It’s an uneven playing field for service stations because the prices they offer are very cheap,” said Alicia Zazueta, president of AMPES.
Roberto Díaz de León, former president of Onexpo Nacional, said that illegal points reduce sales at gas stations by up to 20 percent.
“It must be acknowledged that there is a clandestine parallel fuel supply network that significantly affects service stations.
“Just by having operations on the roads to combat these illegal points, the stations near these areas can increase their sales by up to 20 percent,” he said.
He pointed out that the number of points where illegal fuel is sold could be much higher, since, as these are clandestine facilities, they can be moved from one place to another in the event of an operation by the authorities.
This makes it difficult for them to be counted.
Illegal fuel sales are mainly carried out on highways or long roads where fuel drums can be seen, without a fixed installation or security parameters. They are sold to transporters and private vehicles.
Ampes estimated the number of 22,000 illegal points through two measurements: first, with reports of self-consumption points owned by fuel distribution companies, which install these charging points for another company, but count them as their own.
That is, the distribution company does have the CRE permit, but the self-consumption that they install and supply to another company does not, which is reported to the authority as a consumption point for the distributor’s own needs.
A mapping was also carried out of the main highways where illegal sales are known to occur, such as the Mexico-Querétaro or Mexico-Puebla highways.
These illegal sales points are where fuel that is not certified by an invoice and whose traceability cannot be verified by the authorities mainly arrives.
Díaz de León also stressed the importance of consumers being aware of not buying fuel of dubious origin, which can cause damage to their vehicles, increase pollution and encourage the illicit market.
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