MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will ban the sale of gasoline oxygenated with ethanol beginning in late October in three major urban centers as part of a push to combat the worst pollution in over a decade due to high concentrations of ozone in the atmosphere, government officials say.
While Mexico opened to the door to such imports in April (2017), such a blend of ethanol and gasoline is not yet present in the Mexican market. State oil company Pemex says it neither produces nor imports gasoline oxygenated with ethanol.
However, the new rule anticipates any such imports in future as Mexico opens up its long-shuttered energy sector. In May, the government said that air quality levels in Mexico City and its surrounding areas were the worst in 14 years.
A ban in key metropolitan areas could hinder the development of the potential market, which would concern U.S. traders.
Mexicoโs energy regulator CRE expects a new norm on oil quality standards, NOM-016-CRE-2016, to be published next week in the official gazette. It will come into effect in late October, and is a periodic review replacing previous norms.
There were no immediate details on any other fuel norm changes in the pipeline.
The new standard establishes quality parameters for gasoline, liquid gas, diesel and jet fuel, for a period of up to five years.
The ban on the sale of gasoline oxygenated with ethanol covers Mexico City and a host of surrounding municipalities in the State of Mexico, as well as Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon.
โDue to altitude and heavy traffic, it was decided that the most appropriate measure at this time was to prohibit the sale and marketing of gasoline oxygenated with ethanol because it is a precursor of ozone and we have a contamination problem,โ a CRE official said, asking not to be named in line with policy.
