And Then Came The Gas Shortage.

Something else for the “life is never dull” file – the current gas shortage in central Mexico.

Ok, technically “they” say that Mexico has plenty of gas. But measures to fight theft of gasoline (closing pipelines and increasing security measures) has slowed the system – leading to some panic buying, perhaps making the situation worse.

I drove by this Pemex gas station in Ixtapaluca today. The line of cars was so long I couldn’t see the end – down the highway, into a parking lot – and who knows where. I’m sure they will be waiting for hours…

But the gas station itself appeared mostly closed – the entrance blocked off, no cars at the pumps that I could see (if you look closely in the picture, you can see a gas station attendant apparently snoozing). The cars in the line weren’t actually moving. Are they waiting for a single pump – or for more gas to be delivered — sometime?

The gas stations that are open are rationing and sometimes charging surprising amounts. I just heard of a friend who paid about CA$5.55/litre (I believe that’s about US$15.82/gallon). That’s 78% of a day’s wages – for 1 litre, if you make minimum wage here. (You may remember the big deal from a couple of years ago when gas prices really began to rise – but they were rising just to CA$1.16.)

Americans area already beginning to panic that they may not have guacamole in time for the Super Bowl due to a lack of imported avocados – some already warning of a coming “guacpocalypse”.

But in some parts of Mexico (such as Ixtapaluca), the problem has gone from entertaining memes such as the one on the left (“things that make them fall in love” – as the man offers the woman a can of gas) to concerns about getting food on the table. As you can imagine, not being able to get to work, or not getting food delivered to the local grocery, can lead to major problems quite quickly.

With a trip planned for some meetings this weekend, we’re planning and timing so that we hopefully have enough gas to get somewhere where there’s more gas.

The powers that be are assuring us that things will “normalize” soon, and I’m sure it’s in their best interest to get things moving (even if the gasoline-theft problem – a serious and ongoing issue – isn’t immediately solved). So we’ll see what happens in the next few days.

Meanwhile, people have one thing to celebrate. Lack of gasoline means lack of vehicles on the road. Less traffic if you still have gas left. And cleaner air for everyone.