The president said that the supply of gasoline is a matter of national security, because if the country runs out of fuel “it would be chaos.”
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured that Mexico only has gasoline reserves for 10 days, and that is why it is important to rehabilitate the six refineries in the country and build the Dos Bocas, in order to have energy self-sufficiency.
He indicated that his government intends to transform and refine crude oil so that gasoline is stopped from being bought abroad and self-sufficiency is achieved since it is considered a matter of national security. He insisted that, at present, Mexico is dependent on other nations for energy supply.”Imagine! If any foreign nation decided not to sell us gasoline, we only have 10-day reserves, it would be chaos, we must be self-sufficient in food, produce in Mexico what we consume, our energy, not depend on any foreign nation, on any power ” , he pointed.
“We are carrying out a profound change in the management of oil policy, the fundamental objective is no longer to sell crude oil to buy gasoline and other fuels, but to process all the raw material in our country,” he said.
He recalled that being self-sufficient will also bring more jobs and will refute the belief that buying gasoline abroad is cheaper than producing it. “It is much better to produce what we consume, not bring it.”
The head of the federal Executive visited the refinery in Ciudad Madero, in Tamaulipas, where he confirmed his commitment not to export or buy gasoline, but to bet on national production and guarantee the supply of the domestic market.
During the supervision of the works, in which he was accompanied by the Secretary of Energy, Rocío Nahle; that of the Treasury; Rogelio Ramírez; and the director of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Octavio Romero; The president highlighted the importance of the modernization of the six refineries and the construction of Dos Bocas.
According to López Obrador, producing fuels in the country means savings for the government, because in this way they no longer have to pay for the transportation of fuel that arrives from other countries.
Therefore, he highlighted the importance of the Federation’s project to build Dos Bocas, restart the construction of the conqueror of Tula, Hidalgo, and buy the Deer Park refinery in the United States.“Because those who were before, technocrats, made accounts at the desk he said: it is cheaper for me to buy gasoline than to produce it in Mexico, they just forgot the freight. Now there is a crisis because the price of freight has increased a lot in the vessels that transport merchandise ”, he commented.
He added that the changes are being achieved thanks to the support of the workers and technicians, and, facing the first democratic election in the oil union, he guaranteed that there will be no layoffs during his six-year term and the conditions established in the collective contracts will be guaranteed.
In this sense, he commented that union democracy will be sought, guaranteeing free and secret votes in the election of leaders, avoiding the so-called “charrismo”. “We can have good intentions, clear ideas, defend the people, the nation, but if we do not have someone with whom to put the plans into practice, we would not advance.”
This weekend, the President will also make supervisory visits to the Salamanca refineries in Guanajuato and Tula in Hidalgo.
