Mérida, Yucatán — Yucatán already has La Gas and Gulf stations.
Now we’re about to see other non-Pemex brands pumping gas: OxxoGas, British Petroleum’s Petro-7 and GasMark, said the Energy Regulatory Commission.
It’s striking only because for decades, government-owned Pemex held a national monopoly on consumer gas stations. Energy reforms changed all that.
New brands are supposed to bring marketplace competition, but so far, the change is cosmetic. Gas stations operating under different banners still rely on Pemex for their gasoline.
Until the new brands are able to find independent sources to fill their pumps, gas prices are expected to be somewhat the same from station to station.
Oxxo is already a familiar brand name. Owned by Femsa, the Coca-Cola bottler, Oxxo is Mexico’s largest convenience store chain. Femsa plans to take 10 percent of Mexico’s service-station market by 2021, according to Forbes.
Oxxo has a head start. The firm currently operates 2,500 gas stations in 16 Mexican states, including Yucatán, but most remain branded as Pemex.
With information from Sipse
