TIJUANA Gasoline kept flowing in the region despite a threatened shutdown by stations owners nationwide to protest a new contract imposed by Mexicos state-owned oil company.
The Mexican Association of Station Owners had said that it would stop pumping gasoline at 200 stations on Wednesday in Baja California and 19 other states to protest the contract.
For the first time, the contract allows Pemex to sell its products to parties other than the franchise owners, including to foreign companies, an arrangement the association says is against Mexicos Constitution.
Joaquín Aviña, the president of the Tijuana chapter of the association, said on Wednesday that 98 percent of the 215 stations in Tijuana, Tecate and Rosarito Beach had signed the new contract despite opposing its terms. He said they did this so there would be no disruption in service to consumers in the region.
However, the local owners have joined the lawsuit the national association is pursuing in Mexicos Supreme Court challenging the legality of new arrangement.
In May, representatives in the lower chamber of Mexicos Congress introduced a bill that said that only Congress has the power to change the way Pemex operates fundamentally.
The threatened shutdown is part of a national debate about the role of the powerful oil monopoly, which cannot keep up with Mexicos oil needs but lacks the revenue to increase capacity.
omar.millan@sandiegored.com
