Mexico retail fuels long-term outlook

Mexico is a growing market for petroleum products, and heavily dependent on imports due to refining capacity constraints. Its fuel market is liberalised since 2017 and the move attracted significant investments from foreign oil companies, especially from those with refineries situated on the US Gulf Coast. However, an increasing number of barriers to entry have been imposed by the Andrés Manuel López Obrador administration which has negatively impacted foreign investment. Since liberalisation, Pemex has conceeded over one-third of the retail network and foreign players have successfully got local independent dealers to adopt their brands. Only a minor share of the foreign-branded networks are company-owned. Similarly, Pemex also relies mostly on franchisee-operated stations with only 45 sites of its branded network are owned by the company.