Mexico: Gas Shortages Continue In Morelia, Michoacan (12/22/2016)

Weeks before gas is set to be deregulated by Mexico, the country is suffering a gas shortage. In Morelia, Michoacan, gas theft and the recent refinery shortage has led to long lines and some gas stations have suffered closures.

Reporting/Content From Gabriela Ortiz --- Gas shortages have altered the price and confidence of investor sentiment regarding Mexico's domestic refined gas supply. The country is facing shortages at the citizen level with Mexican motorists noting long lines and short supply throughout the country as they enter the holiday weekend.

Contradictory Reports On Supply Restoration

According to Excelsior, one of Mexico's business journals, Mexico's supply was cut by nearly 50 percent because of a problem with refineries early this week. An official announcement from PEMEX CEO Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya blamed theft in the Salamanca-Leon pipeline for shortages, which were supposedly cleared Thursday.On Thursday morning, Mexico's unofficial press agency, Televisa, announced that PEMEX ensured Gasoline supply normalized.

Possible Causes For More Shortages

Unmentioned in most Mexican government communiques to the business world was that beyond the actual pipeline, insecurity's effects were more widespread harming supplies in places like Michoacan with long lines typifying the daily purchase of fuel of all grades. In fact, the original announcements regarding shortages never even mentioned the state of Michoacan being affected. The state has been battered by 4 different cartels seeking control of lucrative supply routes to port cities like Lazaro Cardenas and supply sourcing regions through Michoacan's farmlands.