Mexico mulls measures against fuel theft

Representatives of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies have introduced a bill to suspend or revoke distribution and marketing permits for those dealing in stolen fuel.

Over the weekend, local media reported that legislators are proposing additions to existing federal laws that would make punishments for hydrocarbons and fuel theft harsher than those for other types of theft.

“In the case of stolen fuels – petrol, diesel and LPG – to petrol stations, assignees, contractors, permit holders, distributors, or whoever may dispose of them, the permit granted to sell or distribute hydrocarbons will be suspended or revoked by the Energy Regulatory Commission,” Deputy Alejandro Juraidini Villaseñor told the chamber.

The deputy also presented data indicating a loss of MXN 6.4 billion (USD 333 million) due to the theft of around 756,000 litres of fuel from mainly Pemex pipelines between 2011 and 2016.

Fuel theft incidents have been on the rise over the past year, with many new pipeline hot taps discovered and several federal operations taking place to break up criminal networks dealing with the stolen products.

Over the weekend, local newspaper El Financiero reported that the Mexico state Secretariat of Security had found an abandoned vehicle carrying 3,000 litres of stolen fuel on the Toluca-Atlacomulco highway. The fuel was thought to have been taken from a nearby Pemex pipeline.