Mexico's Cheap Gas Draws American Drivers

SAN DIEGO — If there's pain at the pump in the U.S., Mexico may just have a remedy. A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in San Diego retails for an average price of $4.61 a gallon. A few miles south, in Tijuana, it's about $2.54 _ even less if you pay in pesos.

More and more people appear to be taking advantage of the lower price.

"I used to buy exclusively in the U.S. before gas started really going up," said Patrick Garcia, a drama teacher at an elementary school in San Diego who lives in Tijuana. "Since then, I've been buying all my gas in Tijuana."

The lower prices mean a U.S. motorist could save almost $54 filling up a two-year-old Ford F150 pickup with a 26-gallon fuel tank in Mexico.

The differential in diesel is even greater, selling at $5.04 a gallon in San Diego County and $2.20 in Tijuana.

Paul Covarrubias, 26, who lives in Chula Vista and works in construction in San Diego, crosses the border each week just to refuel his dual-cab Ford F-250 pickup.

"I fill it up with diesel in Tijuana for $60," he said. "It would be almost twice that in San Diego."

Gas is cheaper in Mexico because of a government subsidy intended to keep inflationary forces in check.

Still, international gas-buying trips don't make sense for everyone. The wait getting back into the U.S. at the border in Tijuana frequently takes longer than two hours and cars can burn about a gallon of gas for each hour they idle.

Comments

[waynesmyer]

AS ANY FOOL CAN TELL, The price of gas has no bearing on my election chances! If we cannot protect our beloved oil companies, then what good are we??? your next beloved War Presinator, Johnny"Bomb!Bomb!" McCain

WHAT'S GOOD FOR HALLIBURTON, IS GOOD FOR AMERIKA!

[lotusfalls]

wow.

really?

[macintoshsauce]

Who would have guessed that Americans would run for the Mexican border. LOL

[randyjet]

I live in Houston where we have privately run and owned electric power companies. I pay DOUBLE what the people in Austin and San Antonio pay for electricty since those two cities have government owned and operated electric power companies. The power companies are owned by the cities. In San Antonio, the power company provides 25% of the city budget, so they have lower property taxes as well!

It is high time that we have the electric utilities owned by the cities that they serve. THAT is how to make sure that they are operated and run for the benefit of the people of the city, NOT the investors and banks.

Next time you pay your electric bill, divide it in half, and think how good it would be to have your city own the power company, and then take your property tax bill, divide that by 4 and think how much you could use that additional money for if the power company was owned by the city.

[dhinds]

Another option: Cooperative community-user owned power systems.

[randyjet]

IT is true that Pemex is not one of the best run oil companies in the world and for a time it had the distinction of being the only oil company in the world that was LOSING money. The Saudis and the rest of the world have nationalized oil companies which are doing quite well. The problems of Pemex have been that of the endemic Mexican corruption fostered by the PRI. Now that they are out of power, it is doing better.
Pemex is right about the US oil companies being cheats and frauds. One only has to remember what Texas Governor Bill Clements did with his oil company that was under contract with Pemex. SEDCO screwed up on one of its off shore wells, had a blow out which polluted much of the Texas coast with the oil from Mexico. Clements had the people of Texas pay for HIS screw up, took the rig to deep water and SANK it so that investigators could not find out what went wrong. In case you forget, Clements was the guy who got his alma mater,SMU, the death penalty for cheating at football when he ignored the rules. He was a good Republican.

[picodegallo54]

mexico! build a wall, quick! the americans are coming for another conquest to steal your gas! round them up at the pumps and deport them, pronto! (turn about is fair play.)

[Soothsayer08]

Isn't it pathetic that this country that erroneously calls itself the greatest nation in the world can't figure out how to give it's citizens what a supposedly third world nation can? ie cheap gasoline. Why can't the idiots that run this country have a government subsidy intended to keep inflationary forces in check. like Mexico does ? It seems these third world nations could teach us a thing or two, about this, health care, energy dependence etc.

[cruzy]

HuffPost's Pick

Uh, how do you think the gas is subsidized? That's right, through taxes. Who pays taxes? You do (one way or another). So, you are basically asking to pay higher taxes so your gas can be cheaper? Seems to me to be six-of-one-and-half-a-dozen-of-the-other, as the saying goes.

In any event, the U.S. does NOT need cheaper gas. In most countries in the world gas is and has been far more expensive than in the U.S. Yet people in these countries seem to manage nicely. Look at Europe, gas there has always been far more expensive (mainly because the Europeans place very high taxes on it), which has resulted in a much more robust public transit infrastructure, far more fuel efficient (and less polluting) cars, and less reliance on oil. Now that gas is finally not so darn cheap, maybe Americans will finally start (1) Driving more fuel efficient cars, instead of monster SUVs and other gas guzzlers, (2) conserving energy (not just with their automobiles), and (3) seriously developing alternative energy sources so we do not need to rely on non-renewable fossil fuels.

By the way, if you want to move to Mexico, go ahead. I have good friends who live in Mexico, and even though they are much better off than most Mexicans, they would love to leave and (legally) immigrate to the U.S. Maybe you can trade with them? They would be very grateful!

[Fentwin]

Europes public transportation system makes ours (U.S.) seem akin to a mule and a buggy.

I wouldn't mind eight dollars a gallon gas if I could hop on a train/bus and get anywhere I needed.

[dhinds]

cruzy said:

"Uh, how do you think the gas is subsidized? That's right, through taxes. "

Not true. Productions costs are less than sales prices.

Rather than a subsidy, gasoline's lower price in Mexico represents a policy decision: Cheaper fuel for truckers and consumers is good for Mexico's economy-

[darthdarcy]

Mexico's Oil Industry is state run as ours should be..

[dhinds]

President Lazaro Cardenas (who's grandson is now Governor of the state of Michoacan), expropriated Mexico's oil industry and even though Standard Oil and BP burned their wells, Mexico paid and paid highly for all that was expropriated, avoiding the kinds of problems that have plagued Cuba.

Article 27 of Mexico's Constitution designates oil as forming part of the national patrimony. Mexico's Congressional TV channel has been concentrating on sessions discussing whether Mexico's secondary refining operations should be opened to private investment (as President Calderon & his party suggest). The consensus has been an overwhelming NO!

[vippy]

HuffPost's Pick

You mean that Calderon who was put in power by the CIA for Bush?

[Phil123]

So you want the same people who bankrupted Social Security, and who run the Post Office and the DMV and the IRS, and who are incapable of closing a budget to run the Oil Business too. This sounds like a great plan for making it cheaper and more efficient.

Don't you "get" that the Govenrment is pretty lousy at doing anything efficiently or even particularly well? The only thing that our government does outstandingly well is have a terrific armed forces. But even there, it isn't done very efficiently.

But maybe we should aspire to be more like Mexico in other ways. For starters, we could try closing our Southern border.

[randyjet]

I get it that we had good people running nationalized, government built industries during WWII. There was a lot of waste and corruption even back then, as is true in private industry today. I recall things like TVA, Manhattan Project, and thousands of other government agencies that we started and ran prior to WWII.
If you think that government can never be run well, and then get elected to it, and decide not to do the job, it is a self fulfilling prophecy. The fact that most nationalized oil companies are doing quite well says that government run oil industries make sense.

[PATina]

Government COULD do well... but we allow them to be haphazard because we don't EXPECT them to do well. iF we held our politicians and bureacracy to task... then we wouldn't have to worry about them doing a 'bad' job.

[Sumocat]

It's a democracy - by the people, for the people. Unfortunately, the people are lazy and stupid, which is why Bush is seen as a "regular guy" and why you're correct about our government agencies.

[dhinds]

Mexico's southern border is far from closed.

[SgtLucifer]

I live in Chicago. I'm heading down to Mexico to fill-up my tank. Alright !! I always knew there's a way out.

[melonman]

Here's a news flash: San Diego isn't the only point of entry into Mexico from the U.S.

[fearwig]

Um, they didn't say it was.

What's your point? "News Flash", heh.

[RuthlessDictator]

Doesn't Mexican gas have a lower octane rating? I know it always used to.

[fearwig]

I expect it's not lower by half.

[dhinds]

Mexico exports oil and buys it's gasoline from the USA. The higher quality gasoline (red hose) is 97 octane.

Mexico's natural resources form part of the national patrimony. That's an important part of why Mexico still has oil and the USA doesn't.

[cruzy]

The U.S. has HUGE oil and natural gas reserves; however, much of it is by law untouchable. We have decided to make a trade-off (which I think is for the better) to protect our environment and not drill for oil and natural gas in many places where there are very large quantities of it. Our limited refinery and pipeline distribution capacity also contributes to the higher cost of oil (and natural gas), and again, this is a result mainly of environmental regulations (and also strong NIMBY activism).

As for why oil costs have been rising worldwide, it mainly has to due to with commodities speculators bidding up the price and trying to make a killing.

Of course, at the end of the day, there is a finite amount of oil in the world--and simply ramping up production or allowing drilling in protected areas is not the answer. We need to move toward renewable alternative energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal, tidal currents, and perhaps nuclear power using safer and more efficient new plants).

[CrapWhisperer]

.

Sky rocketing price

Almost paying twice

Skyyyyyyyyy Skyyyy .... Rocketing Price
.

[kellygrrrl]

well, good thing BlackWater West is going to put a stop to this nasty biz

[wmbear]

"Still, international gas-buying trips don't make sense for everyone. The wait getting back into the U.S. at the border in Tijuana frequently takes longer than two hours and cars can burn about a gallon of gas for each hour they idle."

I HAVE AN IDEA...

Turn. Off. Your. Engine. While. You're. Waiting....

[JDJase]

haha you read my mind

[UnknownSoldier]

They are from California, thinking is not a necessary option out there

[Wilburrr]

.... so if your time is worth $25 an hour... you're saving how much?

[ccpostman]

Why does this NOT surprise me.
Canada for cheap drugs, Mexico for cheap gas! This is insane!

Last week OPEC came out saying that oil should only be around 70-72 a barrel.
Read between the lines. The oil companies are funneling money round-about into oil commodities to raise prices. It's basically Enron all over again, except nobody is doing anything in Congress. My guess is they want Bush out of office, since he will pardon everybody.

Every Spring-Summer for the last eight years the oil companies have jacked up the oil prices, and then lower them a little to give retailers a break during the Nov-Dec holiday season. They come up with some LAME excuse to radically increase the prices each Spring. The hurricanes, the Alaska pipeline needs welding, war, storms, politics, the dollar; etc. They are using World market demand as a excuse this Spring with a little extra invest help. Nice racket!

However, this year they are jacking it as HIGH as they possible can, since the new admin will most likely investigate.
The oil companies want a big price buffer, so when they HAVE TO lower prices, they will still be insanely high. They got it all figured out. However, so do I.

As soon as Bush is OUT of office, that is when the fun will being.
I hear some oil executives are retiring in the next few months thinking they will be safe.

I suggest they run and hide.

[wmbear]

HEY, IT'S ONLY 2000 MILES...

And look how much I can save!...

[Wilburrr]

For me it's exactly one tank of gas!