As part of the liberalisation program of its energy sector, the Government of Mexico has implemented structural changes of the country's price setting model to end subsidies and economic distortions.
On 1 January 2017, the fuels market has started to move from a single supplier model, in charge of supplying the whole country, to an open and competitive scheme, in which more players share responsibility for carrying fuels throughout the country. The State-owned oil and gas company Pemex (Petroleo Mexico) is indeed losing its monopoly on the domestic fuels market allowing new comers to enter the market.
The reform initiated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) will completely phase out government-set gasoline and diesel prices as of April 2017 when private companies will import by renting available Pemex transportation and storage capacity. As from this date, the price of gasoline and diesel will be determined by the price of oil, the costs of refining, transportation and storage, the commercial margin, the taxes, and the exchange rates.
The first step toward full price liberalisation was the implementation of maximum prices on 1 January 2017. This meant, partly explained by the strong depreciation of the Mexican pesos over the last two months, an increase of between 15% and 20% of the gasoline and diesel prices, depending on the type of fuel.