August Pemex Gasoline Shortages in Nayarit
Tara A. Spears
Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to the local Pemex station only to be told they only had Premium because the station was out of regular gasoline. Sure, I thought to myself. Then I remembered that the week before when I passed the Guayabitos Pemex and the two Penita stations that each had long lines for each pump. At the time, I thought it was due to the volume of family vacationers visiting the coast before school resumed but maybe not. Grudgingly, I purchased a limited amount of Premium because I had an appointment and needed to be on the road. I made a point of stopping at six other gas stations on the way to Puerto Vallarta. I found that all were also out of regular. Some stations in Bucerias and Mezcales were totally closed because they had no fuel of any type. I started to worry that I wouldn’t have enough gas to return home but the sixth station had gas to sell. 
Naturally, I was curious about the situation so I did some research. The Spanish headlines sizzled with comments about how the shortage of gasoline in Mexico has worsened with 15 states claiming to be without enough fuel to provide for consumer needs. El Impartial reported that the failures are attributed to pipeline maintenance and seasonal demand; the disruption of delivery affects more than 69 gas stations. I know first-hand that coastal Nayarit is one of the states affected.
Pemex asked the public not to buy or store fuels in unsuitable containers, both for safety and to avoid hoarding that complicates the process of balancing supply and demand. “The population is urged not to make panic purchases or engage in speculation due to fuel shortages,” Pemex, the state-owned company, said in a statement.
In addition, the CEO of Pemex response to the immediate outcry is that he has been in contact with the leaders of the affected states to assure them that fuel supplies will be normalized shortly. Just yesterday Pemex stated that the shortages are temporary and that the company is working on the situation: “Pemex will increase its fleet of tanker trucks to supply gasoline… following reports of shortages at some stations. The state-owned company attributed the failures to maintenance work on transportation units and reduced availability of tanker trucks, not the President’s new energy policy that limits production of crude oil.
Since its creation, Pemex has been a key company for the implementation of policies in the country, regardless of the government in office. The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, presented the 2025-2030 Work Plan of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), whose main objective is to achieve a daily production of 1.8 million barrels of oil during her administration. The president emphasized that oil is a nonrenewable resource, which justifies limiting production to 1.8 million barrels per day. This approach focuses on using oil primarily to meet domestic demand for gasoline and diesel, rather than relying on exports. 
I’ve often considered Pemex to be a monopoly but it isn’t according to the Mexican government. Article 28 of the Constitution states that the activities carried out by Pemex do not constitute monopolies because it is a public company of the State. Pemex is the company that leads the ranking of the 500 most important companies in the country according to Expansión. That means that the performance of Pemex affects the cost of living, the price of goods and overall strength of the county’s economy. According to the government website, Pemex is the eleventh producer of crude oil in the world. It is the company with the highest income in the country, since it contributes more than 6% of budget revenues. In addition to generating 124,000 direct jobs and markets 80% of fuels.
The managers of Pemex are the holders of the following agencies: Secretary of Energy; Secretary of the Treasury; Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources; Secretary of Science; and the Department of Humanities, Technology and Innovation.
The Mexico Government announced on Tuesday a plan that aims to achieve financial self -sufficiency in just two years, as well as raising hydrocarbons in the next decade through alliances with private companies, including deep water projects.
The Plan aims to address the short -term problem of debt maturities to provide the liquidity company that allows you to finance, as of 2027, its operational expense, in addition to reducing refinancing risks, improving the maturity profile and reducing the financial cost. According to an analysis by Caravia and Associates, Mexico leads the list of countries with the highest price of regular gasoline among the 10 largest consumers of this fuel. In July 2025, the average price of a liter of Magna gasoline in the country was 24.31 pesos, higher than that of countries on this continent.
El Impartial said one of the main reasons for this high cost is the tax burden on Mexican consumers. In Mexico, around 64% of the price of gasoline is made up of taxes, with the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) being the largest component, followed by the Value Added Tax (VAT). This percentage is significantly higher than in other countries. Modern society is so dependent on fossil fuels, the consumer will continue to pay the price.