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News > Mexico

Fuel Prices Stable in Mexico Despite Saudi Attacks: AMLO

  • A Pemex gas station is seen in Mexico City, Mexico September 17, 2019.

    A Pemex gas station is seen in Mexico City, Mexico September 17, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 18 September 2019
Opinion

The president said Finance Secretariat officials planned to meet on Tuesday with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) managers to discuss the situation in the oil market.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that Mexico’s oil supplies and fuel prices would remain stable despite the disruption to global crude output caused by the drone attacks on Saudi Arabian petroleum facilities.

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“Now, with this attack on the plants in Saudi Arabia, despite the upward adjustments to the price of crude, we are protected,” Lopez Obrador, the founder and leader of the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena), said during his daily press conference at the National Palace.

The president assured Mexicans that gasoline prices would not spike.

“We’re going to continue keeping the commitment of not increasing the prices of fuels in real terms. Because, despite this special situation abroad, we’re going to have stability in our country,” said Lopez Obrador, popularly known as AMLO.

While Mexico benefits from higher petroleum prices as a producer, a spike in fuel prices can have a negative impact on the economy because the country is an importer of gasoline and diesel, AMLO said.

“We have to see where the balance is. We have our supply of gasoline assured without problems via imports and the refining capacity of the six Pemex refineries has also increased,” Lopez Obrador said.

On Saturday, two refineries belonging to state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, which accounts for about 5 percent of the world’s daily oil production, were attacked by drones, causing a 50 percent drop in output.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels, a Shia militia engaged in a protracted civil war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government, claimed responsibility the attacks on the two Aramco refineries.

A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis and providing military support to Yemen’s government.

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the attacks and said there was no evidence to suggest they were launched from Yemen despite the claims made by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Iran said Monday that it was not involved in the drone attacks on the Saudi oil facilities.

Washington is a key ally of Iran’s regional foes, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

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