Gasoline imports in Mexico still exceed the country’s domestic production, despite the efforts of Petróleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil company known as Pemex.
Mexico imported 529,400 barrels of gasoline per day during November 2025, of which 68% was imported by Pemex and the remaining 32% by private companies such as Valero, ExxonMobil, and Koch, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Online.
The monthly increase was 6%.
During the same period, Pemex produced 413,400 barrels of gasoline per day. Although the Mexican oil company has not been able to eliminate imports, its gasoline production grew 72% from 2018 to 2025, driven by refinery upgrades.
The United States shipped 538,000 barrels of gasoline per day to Mexico during November 2025, a monthly increase of 19%, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The average annual gasoline imports of 485,000 barrels per day also exceed domestic production of 356,000 barrels per day by 32%, according to Mexico’s Energy Ministry, or Sener.
Neither entity specifies the methodologies that might explain the accounting difference, such as temperature, additives, or imports from other countries in the case of the Mexican agency.
Bloomberg Line contacted the Energy Ministry and Pemex for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
The Mexican government, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, maintains its objective of eliminating gasoline and diesel imports in pursuit of self-sufficiency in liquid fuels through Pemex production—a political goal of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that he was unable to achieve during his term.
The shift in Mexican crude oil production from light to heavy crude has forced the Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex to make adjustments to its refineries for over a decade. However, it has experienced numerous delays in key projects such as the new Dos Bocas refinery and the coking plants at the Tula and Salina Cruz complexes, despite these projects being a priority for the López Obrador (2018-2024) and Sheinbaum administrations.
Pemex is facing a complex financial situation with a debt exceeding US$100 billion, while its oil production is at its lowest level in four decades, in addition to defaulting on payments to suppliers totaling approximately US$28 billion.
The government has prepared a US$50 billion rescue plan, which has improved Pemex’s credit rating from Moody’s and Fitch Ratings, but it remains within speculative grade, known in the financial sector as junk bonds.
Source: bloomberglinea
