ROSARITO BEACH -- A gasoline cargo tanker arrived early Saturday at the Pemex fuel terminal to resupply stations across the state that have run out of diesel. The process of moving fuel from the cargo ship to tanker trucks could take up to a day, however. So it will be at minimum early Sunday before tanker trucks can start to be filled and sent out to replenish the stations, according to Pemex workers interviewed, with normal operations not expected until Wednesday.
While that happens, like a scene from the apocalyptic “Mad Max” films, about 70 fuel tanks from a wide variety of private companies across the state are parked outside the Pemex plant. Pemex hired them to augment their own fleet and help move the fuel out to stations as quickly as possible, some driver said..
In Tijuana and Rosarito Beach, virtually all of the gas stations that had been selling small amounts of diesel had closed those pumps Saturday because they had run out. Regular unleaded and premium gasoline was being sold, however.
Gasoline in Mexico is produced by the national oil company Pemex and heavily subsidized by the federal government. Regular unleaded (87 octane) sells for $2.54 a gallon, premium (91 octane) $3.20 and diesel $2.20.
Those prices were a magnet for California drivers who have flocked to Tijuana to fill up their tanks, some also filling up auxiliary tanks. Starting June 13, Pemex was unable to meet the demand for diesel at the stations nearest the border, starting a cascade of shortages that have slowed and in some instances paralyzed the movement of people and goods in the large urban centers in Tijuana and other cities in Baja California.
