Have you noticed damage or shortening the useful life of your vehicle’s engine, deterioration of parts, loss of power and performance, or abnormal noises? It is very likely that these problems are not only due to the age of your car, but also to the consumption of adulterated fuel, a practice that continues to increase in Mexico.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) estimates that 30% of gasoline sold in the country has some degree of adulteration, which represents a serious risk for vehicles and the safety of drivers.
This problem is not only technical, it is deeply linked to organized crime. Adulteration, illicit fuel and tax huachicol have become a complex and lucrative operation for criminal groups, who have developed sophisticated methods to alter the composition of fuels, using mixtures of light and heavy gasoline, water, oil, ethane, and even industrial solvents. These mixtures allow the product to go unnoticed in the mandatory regulatory tests, despite the four required by the standard when laboratories carry out the analyses.
The cycle of adulteration is constant. Every time new technologies emerge to detect these adulterant alcohols, criminals modify their formulas, perpetuating the problem. The great challenge lies especially in the transportation of the product, where a significant increase in adulteration has been detected. During the transfer of oil products, it is used to manipulate their characteristics and mask illegal mixtures, making the fraud almost undetectable until the fuel reaches consumers.
This phenomenon of adulteration has worsened since the energy reform of 2013, which allowed private companies to enter the fuel market. With the new legislation, which was promoted during the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto, Pemex lost its monopoly as the only producer, importer and distributor of gasoline and diesel. Before the reform, Pemex controlled the supply chain through its franchises, which allowed it to maintain stricter supervision over fuel quality. With the opening of the market, that control was diluted, and adulteration increased considerably.
Every day, the CRE receives around 10 complaints from consumers who have suffered problems with their vehicles after purchasing gasoline. The testimonies of those affected include everything from engines that stopped working to the appearance of serious mechanical failures. This not only highlights the seriousness of the problem, but also the urgent need to implement a cooperation strategy between the public and private sectors to attack this crisis.
NOM-016-CRE-2016, which regulates the quality of petroleum products in Mexico since August 2016, establishes the technical specifications that fuels sold in the country must meet, but the lack of effective monitoring has prevented this standard from being met. fully.
Adulteration not only affects the performance of vehicles, but also puts the safety of drivers and passengers at risk. Altered fuels can cause unexpected road failures, which could result in fatal accidents.
Walter Julián Ángel Jiménez, commissioner of the CRE, has been clear in stating that fuel adulteration is a constant problem, with repercussions that affect the entire national territory, “from Tijuana to Chiapas, from Tamaulipas to Jalisco.” For this reason, it has urged service station owners to collaborate and join in a joint effort to solve this problem, which not only affects the economy, but also the safety and confidence of consumers.
It is essential that the government, regulatory authorities and the private sector work together to create stricter measures for the detection and sanction of fuel adulteration. Only through close collaboration can we effectively combat this crime that affects both consumers and the country’s energy infrastructure.
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