La Gas, a new service-station franchise, was announced Monday with a gas station in Mérida and another in Campeche that will open “in the coming days.”
This is the first time in almost 75 years that gas other than Pemex’s will be sold, beating another competitor, Gulf Oil, to the punch. La Gas is comprised of five southeast Mexico companies: Corpo Gas, Grupo Enerkom, Hidrosina, Lodemo Red and Corporativo GES.
As a “strategic ally,” Pemex will actually supply most of the fuel to La Gas’s pumps, but the new franchise seeks to differentiate itself with spiffy, clean stations and bathrooms, electronic payment systems and loyalty programs.
Plans call for 25 more La Gas service stations this year in Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Campeche. La Gas’s operators do not rule out later expanding into other states, but they are concentrating on southeast Mexico for now.
Emilio Loret de Mola, one of the entrepreneurs who formed the consortium, said that La Gas has been in the works for three years, anticipating an opportunity to compete against foreign oil companies welcomed into the country.
Historic energy reform finalized in 2014 ended state-owned oil company Pemex’s longstanding monopoly, allowing private companies to establish their own non-Pemex branded gas stations for the first time since the 1930s.
In April, the Mexican government allowed private companies to import fuels for the first time. Gulf Mexico plans to open 100 gas stations this year in Mexico’s 18 biggest cities.
Mérida’s “La Gas” station is at Sodzil Norte, km. 30 of the Periférico.
Source: Publimetro
