Gasoline importers crossing the U.S. border to bring fuel to Mexico in tanker trucks have complained that it has taken them up to three days to go to and from, while under normal conditions it takes them barely 16 hours. This could ultimately cause a fuel shortage in Mexico’s border cities.
The delays are due to a reshuffling of border agents, mostly in Texas , which has slowed down operations for the crossing of goods and people to and from the North American market, according to Julio Jáuregui, executive manager of the fuel importer Enermex .
“The round-trip travel for tanker trucks traveling from northern Mexico to bring refined products from the United States is taking around 72 hours instead of the usual 16 hours,” he stated.
He added that most delays for fuel importers had occurred in the crossing points of Laredo-Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa-McAllen, and Matamoros-Brownsville, in Texas .
He revealed that the U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered the redeployment of some 750 officers of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and reassigned them to tasks traditionally within the remit of the Border Patrol, alleging that it was a necessary step in combating illegal immigration.
The closure of some lanes at crossing points has further intensified the traffic of tourists and passenger buses, said Jáuregui.
Fortunately, railway import transactions have not been adversely affected by the measure since the paperwork is sent in advance and hi-tech X-ray equipment is used to control the cargo.
The main bottleneck is formed upon entering the United States, said Jáuregui, “though Mexico’s customs service has been speeding up the entry of fuel tanker trucks and refined products in general.”
Panic buying
Both delays in fuel imports and panic buying near crossing points were sparked by recent threats made by President Trump to close the U.S.-Mexico border.
So far, Mexico’s state oil company Pemex remains the main importer of gasoline and diesel by sea, though the private sector has slowly increased its share of imports, acquiring most of their products from the U.S. market.
Information provided by the Undersecretariat of Hydrocarbons and the General Directorate of Petroleum Products at Mexico’s Ministry of Energy (SENER) shows that, as of December 2018, companies in the private sector such as Enermex showed a 7.01% share of gasoline imports, which grew to 8.35% in January 2019, amounting to 1.69 million barrels.
Jáuregui pointed out that Mexico had a storage capacity of only three days for refined products, making it particularly vulnerable to fuel shortage in the face of a border slowdown.
He agreed with specialists in saying that a border shutdown could cause a potential economic damage of up to USD$1.4 billion a day .
dm