British Petroleum last week opened the first internationally-branded retail gas station in Mexico since the country deregulated its energy sector.
The fueling station in the suburb of Satélite, north of Mexico City, is the first of 1,500 planned BP-branded gas stations in Mexico during the next five years — an aggressive push to establish a strong branding and retail position. Other global oil companies are expected to follow suit.
“We are delighted to be the first international oil company serving Mexican consumers in what is the sixth-largest consumer gasoline and diesel market globally,” said BP Downstream Chief Executive Tufan Erginbilgic.
The move comes as Mexico eliminates its state-owned monopoly held by Pemex and slowly begins to shift away from government-controlled gasoline pricing. Mexico saw some civic uproar after the government increased fuel prices by nearly 20 percent in January.
At the same time, Pemex is expanding outside of Mexico, opening its first U.S. fueling station in late 2015 in southeastern Houston with more planned.
United Kingdom-based BP said its Mexico stations sites will feature retail stores and full-service fueling stations.
BP said it plans to open about 200 BP-branded stations in 2017 in Mexico.
BP has more than 18,000 service stations in 19 countries around the world. In December, BP agreed to acquire and operate 527 retail sites in Australia, subject to regulatory approval.
Source: fuelfix.com