After the liberalization of fuel prices in 2017, this policy is the first federal intervention to set maximum limits on the sale of one of these inputs. The measure was announced after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador admitted that with LP gas he had failed to fulfill his commitment not to raise the price above inflation.
The current legislation contained in the Hydrocarbons Law maintains that this fuel is not subject to regulation by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the body in charge of this market, unless the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) has previously demonstrated that there are no optimal conditions for its sale.
Last December, Cofece published a preliminary study with which it opened the door for the CRE to intervene formally in the consideration and fees of those who participate in the sale of this fuel, which is used in 70% of Mexican homes. .
Cofece said in that document that 213 of the 22 markets in the LP gas markets in which the country is divided do not operate under competitive conditions and with entry barriers for new participants. also concluded that from 2016 to 2021 distributors increased their gross profit margin by 145%. But this document is still under review and cannot yet be taken into account as a declaration of absence of conditions in the market that would justify the intervention of the Energy Regulatory Commission in the price of LP gas.
Soon more information…