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 Business News | June 2008 
Shipments Let Stations Sell Diesel to All Drivers
 Omar Millán González - San Diego Union-Tribune
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 |  | Station owners are frustrated at the decisions made by bureaucrats in the nation's capital because they don't know that border life is intimately tied to California. |  | | | |
Tijuana – Gas stations returned to selling diesel to everyone yesterday without any limits, after tanker trucks rushed deliveries across the city and state.
Stations sold diesel as well as unleaded and premium gasoline to a steady stream of customers, many driving cars and trucks with California plates.
On the streets, public buses ran their normal schedule and cargo trucks returned to the roads.
Though relieved the diesel crisis was over, gas station owners worried about what steps national oil company Pemex might take to try to avert a future shortage.
Over the weekend in Mexico City, the director of Pemex suggested that station owners in the border region limit sales to drivers from the United States.
Yesterday, stations close to the two border crossings were selling diesel to anyone.
Héctor Casillas, 50, an irrigation consultant who lives in Bonita, was one of the drivers who took advantage of the fresh supply.
Casillas said he had been traveling to Tijuana twice a week to fill up his double-cab pickup at a station near the Otay border crossing. He said he called the station last week and was told that there was a crisis and no fuel was available.
“I called this morning and they assured me that everything was normal,” he said. “I'm going to buy 300 liters (about 79 gallons) for $200.”
Last week, gasoline stations in the Otay area limited the sale of diesel to established customers, while others east and south of Tijuana limited sales to $100 maximum per truck driver and $20 per bus driver, which kept public transportation from grinding totally to a halt.
To date, Pemex has offered no official explanation about why it took several days for the stations to be refueled, said Joaquín Aviña, president of the Association of Gas Station Owners of Tijuana, which represents 157 stations.
He said the owners are frustrated at the decisions made by bureaucrats in the nation's capital because they don't know that border life is intimately tied to California.
“We can say, for example, to American tourists, 'Come visit us but bring a full tank because we can't sell you fuel,' ” he said. “It's outrageous to think that way.”
He said last week's diesel shortage did not affect sales of unleaded and premium gasoline in Tijuana, which had increased 25 percent this year compared with 2007. Arbitrary decisions made by Pemex, however, could have lasting effect on business, he added.
Gasoline is heavily subsidized by the Mexican government. Regular, 87-octane unleaded sells for $2.54 a gallon, while 91-octane premium is $3.20 and diesel is $2.20.
California drivers, eager to escape record prices, flocked to Tijuana to fill up their tanks. Starting June 13, Pemex was unable to meet the demand for diesel at stations nearest the border.
Omar Millán González is a contributor to The Union-Tribune's Spanish-language Enlace. |
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