Sheinbaum denies gasoline and announces measures against abuses

Arturo Sánchez Jiménez and Andrea Becerril

La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, January 4, 2025, p. 3

The federal government yesterday rejected that there was gasoline at the beginning of the year and announced new measures to stop abusive prices at gas stations.

In her daily press conference at the National Palace, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo reaffirmed her commitment not to increase fuel costs during her mandate. In addition, he stated that in December his government began to settle the debts it had with Pemex suppliers.

As this newspaper published in November, at the end of the year the oil company temporarily suspended new contracts with suppliers, with which it added liabilities of 402,874 million pesos until the third quarter of 2024.

All suppliers will be paid. This December the liquidation began and the Treasury established a mechanism to guarantee their remuneration between January, February and March, essentiallyshe stated when questioned on the subject.

Regarding Magna gasoline, he pointed out that the current price remains between 23 and 24 pesos per liter, which is considered a reasonable margin for the profits of gas station businessmen. We are keeping our promise of not increasing the cost in real terms. However, it is unacceptable that some gas stations are charging 28 or 29 pesos per liter. This is not justifiedhe emphasized.

To combat these practices, the head of the Federal Consumer Prosecutor’s Office, César Iván Escalante Ruiz, announced that monitoring will be intensified and that at gas stations that exceed reasonable profit margins a banner will be placed with the legend Don’t charge here; they blow the fence with the prices.

The official presented an analysis of the evolution of the cost of hydrocarbons, discounting inflation. He pointed out that during Calderón’s six-year term, the average value of the Magna increased 22.9 percent, going from 14.75 to 18.10 pesos, while under Enrique Peña Nieto it grew 42.8 percent, rising from 18.25 to 26.01, and recalled that in Those periods were recorded gasoline.

In contrast, he said, the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador achieved a reduction in real terms of 5.2 percent in the average price of regular gasoline, which fell from 25.48 to 24.15 pesos.

During the first three months of Sheinbaum’s administration, this value has decreased 0.4 percent, ensuring that the promise of not increasing costs in real terms has been fulfilled.

He highlighted that since 2019, gasoline and diesel prices have remained below accumulated inflation, achieving a real decrease of 11.03 percent in diesel during the López Obrador and current administrations.

The President added that starting Monday, Cuitláhuac García, former governor of Veracruz, will join the federal government as director of the National Center for Natural Gas Control.