Repsol to invest USD$430 million in Mexico

On Monday, Spanish oil firm Repsol announced it would open over 200 gasoline stations in Mexico in 2018 , with plans to open a similar number annually in coming years to attain between 8% to 10% market share in five years .

Maria Victoria Zingoni

, Repsol’s Downstream Director , said at a news conference that the company will invest a total MXN$8 billion ( USD$430 million ) over the coming years in building new fuel stations and infrastructure, taking advantage of a fuel sector that is opening up after a sprawling energy overhaul in 2013.

“Mexico is a country that is growing [...] that is in the midst of the process of opening up due to the energy reform, and in which demand for fuels is growing,” Zingoni said.

Zingoni disclosed that Repsol's investment excludes logistics and infrastructure , foreseen in their business plan for later dates.

The Spanish oil firm will focus the operation of their gas stations in the Valley of Mexico by now, yet Repsol is seeking to expand to the rest of the country in coming years, Zingoni assured.

Repsol will commercialize and distribute Pemex fuel enhanced with Neotech technology , an additive that avoids corrosion and protects the engine's performance.

The first Repsol gas station is located on the Picacho-Ajusco highway , southern Mexico City.

On Twitter, Repsol wrote in Spanish: "What a great party we experienced in Mexico City during the inauguration of our service stations in the country. Illusion, surprises, and lots of energy."

Repsol joins a growing list of companies, including Royal Dutch Shell , BP , and Exxon Mobil , that have flocked to Mexico’s fuel sector, seeking to take advantage of a government liberalization of gasoline prices and the retail fuel sector.

Following a 2013 constitutional overhaul of the energy sector that ended state-owned oil firm Pemex’s decades-long monopoly, private companies can now brand gas stations and sell non-Pemex brand gasoline and diesel, as well as imported fuels.

The opportunities are huge for the private sector in the fuel market of Latin America’s second-biggest economy, with Mexico now one of the world’s biggest gasoline consumers and the top foreign importer of U.S. gasoline .

sg