Baja runs dry as Americans fuel up on cheap gasoline

By Omar Millan Gonzalez
ENLACE

1:41 p.m. June 16, 2008

TIJUANA – Demand from U.S. motorists for Mexican gasoline is straining supplies in Baja California.

Over the weekend, some stations began to limit the sale of diesel to $100 per customer. Other stations ran out of diesel as well as premium gas.

Buying gas in Tijuana
If you go to Tijuana to fill up your tank, here are some tips:

Look for pumps that have the holographic seal of the Consumer Protection Office, which is intended to ensure that you get the quantity you pay for.

Fuel is sold in liters. There are 3.8 liters in one gallon.

Most gas stations are open 24 hours.

All gas stations take dollars, although the exchange rate is always worse than in currency exchange houses.

There are two grades of gasoline: Magna, in the green pumps, is 87 octane, and Premium, in the red pumps, is 91 octane.

U-T Multimedia: For a video on motorists buying gasoline in Tijuana go to uniontrib.com/more/cheap_gas


All gasoline in Mexico is produced by the national oil monopoly Pemex and sold at franchise stations. A gallon of regular unleaded (87 octane) sells for $2.54, premium (91 octane) for $3.19, and diesel for $2.20. Prices are low in Mexico because the government heavily subsidizes gasoline.

The Pemex plant at Playas de Rosarito supplies stations across Baja California. The plant was having problems supplying some gas stations, particularly those closest to the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings, station workers said.

The station at Second and Negrete streets in downtown Tijuana almost ran out of both regular unleaded and premium gasoline on Saturday, said Juan Carlos Carreto, the shift manager. The station ran out of gasoline at midday Sunday but received another shipment two hours later.

“This weekend and last we've had a big increase in sales. Many Americans came here, and besides filling up their tank, they brought gallon containers to take gas with them, Carreto said.

For his part, Juan Jose Garcia, shift manager at a station in Rosarito Beach, said his station was limiting the sale of diesel fuel to $100 per customer.
Other stations, like the one located on Bellas Artes Boulevard, near the Otay Mesa border crossing, started selling diesel to only regular customers. The station manager, Hector Lopez, said that Pemex had warned them that there would be a shortage of diesel this week.

Officials at Pemex could not be reached over the weekend. Some Pemex workers, however, said the oil company was having trouble keeping up with the increased demand. They said that a third distribution shift had been added to supply gas stations.

The workers said that in some instances stations were only receiving half the amount they had requested because reserves were running low.

The Association of Gasoline Station Owners of Tijuana, which represents 157 stations, said sales had increased 25 percent in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2007, driven by the demand from California motorists.


Millan is a regular contributor to the Union-Tribune's Spanish publication, Enlace.

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