{"id":4259,"date":"2021-08-02T15:34:49","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/?p=4259"},"modified":"2021-08-05T15:37:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T21:37:23","slug":"cofece-slams-amlos-plan-to-regulate-lp-gas-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/cofece-slams-amlos-plan-to-regulate-lp-gas-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"COFECE slams AMLO\u2019s plan to regulate LP gas prices."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

THE YUCATAN TIMES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico\u2019s anti-monopoly regulator on Wednesday openly criticized President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s plan to set a maximum price for cooking and heating gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico imports much of its LP gas, and prices have risen, while profit margins at some gas delivery companies appear to have reached almost 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the federal economic competition commission (Comisi\u00f3n Federal de Competencia Econ\u00f3mica<\/em>: COFECE) said in a statement that current law sets out a process by which regulators, if they find monopoly pricing practices, can impose price ceilings. It said such an investigation was started May 31 and is currently under way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But L\u00f3pez Obrador tried this week to invoke emergency powers to decree a six-month price cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrice regulation could have consequences unintended by the decree, like shortages of LP gas,\u201d the commission wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico\u2019s inflation rate is currently hovering around 6%, and officials are worried. Cooking gas is used by 70% of Mexican households and home deliveries have almost doubled in price in some areas over the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador said earlier this month he wants to create a government company to distribute cooking gas following a surge in LP gas prices. But part of Mexico\u2019s energy reform almost a decade ago was intended to move away from fixed prices and state-owned industries, to create free competition in fuel markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president says private gas distribution companies have inflated their profit margins and he says a state-run delivery company could charge lower prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition legislators say Mexico doesn\u2019t need, or have the money, to acquire tanker trucks and distribution hubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one of the president\u2019s key promises has been that basic fuel prices won\u2019t increase above the rate of inflation, and the largely privatized market for cooking gas cylinders has made that unobtainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico doesn\u2019t produce enough gas from domestic oil fields, and refuses to approve fracking to obtain more. The country imports about 70% of the LP gas it uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But prices on the international market fluctuated wildly this winter and spring after winter storms hit Texas. That\u2019s what gas companies point to as one factor in the price increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador has also launched a nationalistic campaign to end gasoline imports and stop or reduce exports of crude oil, by boosting domestic refining capacity. His pet projects include building oil refineries in Mexico, and he has also tried to rein in foreign companies that built wind and solar farms to produce electricity in Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yucatan Times Staff. (2021). COFECE slams AMLO\u2019s plan to regulate LP gas prices. M\u00e9xico.\u00a0The Yucatan Times<\/em>. Recuperado de\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/www.theyucatantimes.com\/2021\/07\/cofece-slams-amlos-plan-to-regulate-lp-gas-prices\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE YUCATAN TIMES Mexico\u2019s anti-monopoly regulator on Wednesday openly criticized President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s plan to set a maximum price for cooking and heating gas. Mexico imports much of its LP gas, and prices have risen, while profit margins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4261,"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4259\/revisions\/4261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accesstomexico.mx\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}