CIUDAD JUÃREZ, Mexico – With gasoline prices hovering near $4 per gallon, Texans along the U.S.-Mexico border have discovered a cheaper alternative: Mexico.
Mexican service stations all along the border report brisk sales in recent weeks as fuel prices in Texas continue to climb. Even Ciudad Juárez has seen a notable increase in customers from the United States, despite escalating drug violence that includes gunbattles in the streets and several decapitations.
Victor Gonzalez was among those risking their lives for cheaper gasoline Monday. Mr. Gonzalez crossed the border from El Paso in his silver Ford F150 truck with Chip, his cranky Chihuahua, riding next to him.
“I was running on empty – almost,” said Mr. Gonzalez, a cattleman who normally pays about $90 to fill up his truck’s tank on the Texas side of the border.
In Mexico, gasoline is about a dollar cheaper a gallon because the government subsidizes it.
Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company, known as Pemex, is the sole supplier of gasoline for the country’s gas stations and buys nearly half of it from the U.S. because of a lack of Mexican refineries.
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