10 Mexican states hit by gasoline shortages

Mexico City: At least 10 Mexican states over the past few days have suffered serious gasoline shortages, which the state oil company Pemex attributes to the clandestine theft of fuel from the pipelines.

"We are currently taking various measures to re-establish the adequate and opportune supply of gasoline and diesel to the country," Pemex tweeted.

As local media have reported over the past few hours, the lack of fuel at gas stations affects at least 10 states of the nation, Efe news agency reports.

The states hardest hit are Michoacan, which on Friday reported severe problems in several cities due to the lack of fuel, as well as Aguascalientes, Guanajuato and Zacatecas.

Other regions like Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosí and Durango are also experiencing gasoline shortages in a number of their cities.

On December 21, Pemex announced the suspension of operations on the Salamanca-Leon pipeline due to clandestine drainage, which interrupted the arrival of fuel to a number of regions around the country.

Pemex explained in a video that when the system detects a drop in pressure at some point in the 17,000-km network of pipelines, distribution is suspended for safety reasons until company personnel go to the problematic site to test it and repair the defect.

According to Forbes, besides the problem of clandestine theft, the lack of fuel in certain areas is also due to maintenance of the Cadereyta Refinery in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, and a new system of billing by Pemex Refining.