U.S. company to be first private firm to sell gasoline in Mexico

U.S. company Gulf will become the first private company in almost eight decades to compete with government-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in selling gasoline in the Mexican market.

The U.S. company hopes to open its first batch of four gas stations in June or July and with plans to open 100 stations in cities across the country by the end of the year, Sergio de la Vega, Director General of Gulf Mexico, told a news conference Friday.

The company estimates it will have 25 percent of the Mexican market in the long term.

"We are interested in using the existing infrastructure through cooperation with the Pemex franchisees," said the director general.

Since 1938, after the expropriation of the oil industry, fuel was only sold in Mexico by Pemex. However, with energy reforms enacted in 2013, the door opened for the private sector to sell and distribute gasoline in the Mexican market.

Free importation of gasoline was scheduled for 2017, but Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in February that the date had been brought forward to April 1, 2016.

Gulf is the first company to enter Mexico and sets dates for the start of operations. Currently there are around 11,000 gas stations in the Latin American country, all under Pemex's franchise scheme.

Gulf is present in 32 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean, according to official data. Endi