Gasoline in Mexico: More expensive than in the U.S.

For the past 12 months

, Mexico has registered an increase in gasoline and diesel prices. This tendency is in deep contrast with the U.S. market behavior , which is usually taken as reference to set fuel prices in the country. However, the U.S. economy has shown a decrease in gasoline and diesel prices for the past three months .

Information from the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration has shown that the price policy of gas companies in Mexico -taking into consideration the exchange rate and oil price fluctuations- no longer responds to parameters set by the international market, least of all in the United States.

The Mexican market’s publicly available data show that, from August 2017 to August of the present year , mid-grade gasoline prices have shown a consistent increase. The value of mid-grade gasoline went from 15.57 to 19.59 pesos per liter on August 15. Gas stations in the Benito Juárez delegation in Mexico City were reported to sell the most expensive mid-grade gasoline.

This represents a 4.02 pesos increase per liter in only 12 months , which is equivalent to a 25.8% increase .

High octane unleaded gasoline (Premium)

has showed a similar trend. In a monthly increase, it went from 17.39 to 21.06 pesos per liter (a 3.67 pesos and 21.1% increase in one year ).

Official information has also shown that diesel prices have also been at an increase for the past 12 months: Last August, diesel was sold at 16.53 pesos per liter . One year later, diesel is sold at 20.15 pesos .

After the proper conversion, gasoline is still considerably cheaper in the United States, where mid-grade gasoline is sold for approximately 14.38 pesos per liter, while high octane unleaded gasoline costs only 17.41 pesos.

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