Mexico: Service station group to request permission for joint fuel purchases

Nearly 1000 independent service stations throughout Mexico have joined together to create Summa, a new industry advocate that will seek to ease the purchase of gasoline and other petroleum products from sources other than PEMEX, the state-owned oil giant that once held an absolute monopoly over the country’s oil industry. The new alliance has said it is now seeking formal permission from the country’s competition and market regulators, COFECE, in order to avoid possible violations.

“Summa’s intention is to at all times respect the guidelines set by the Competition Law, and to avoid stumbling into any violations, because the law imposes fines that we may be unable to pay – and even to personal prison sentences” said Car-Go’ s president, Fernando González Piña. Car-go, one of three major service-station chains along Hidrosina and Corpogas, is among the firms looking to create a formal Buyer’s Club that would allow these companies to access wider supplier options. “We are analysing our possibilities to see how this would be structured, or what kind of territorial framework would have to be defined, so we can request the proper permissions”, said Mr. González Piña.

Although Buyer’s Clubs do not involve any formal transactions of mergers between companies, the mere process of coordinating strategies to make joint purchases is expected to raise some concerns within the competition regulator.

Full Content: Expansión

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.