<article><p class="lead">Mexico authorities have temporarily shut Monterra Energy's 2.2mn bl fuel storage terminal near the coastal import center of Tuxpan because operators allegedly did not have proper documentation during an audit.</p><p>"It has been closed until further notice," said a private-sector fuel supply director in Mexico. "You do not know if that is an hour, a week, a month or a year."</p><p>The shutdown by Mexico's energy regulatory commission (CRE) occurred 13 September. It was unclear whether officials shut the entire terminal or only a portion of it. Monterra did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p>Spain's Repsol, which has about 225 branded retail stations in Mexico, was to have storage right there of 450,000 bl, developers said when announcing the project.</p><p>The government did not previously shut privately-operated fuel terminals for lack of documentation, and if this becomes a new practice it could disrupt the fuel supply chain, the director said. The energy regulatory agency (CRE) would typically authorize such closures, but did not respond to a request for comment. </p><p>"If they keep stopping operations at private terminals, this will affect the increase in private fuel imports," he said. "Even with the demand we are seeing, they are not going to be able to import."</p><p>Private companies in Mexico have developed storage capacity for fuels at the country's main entry ports such as Tuxpan, which serve major cities such as Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City.</p><p>Houston, Texas-based Monterra planned in 2019 to start building a Mexico City-area terminal as a "sister" to its Tuxpan terminal, on one of the busiest fuels route between the port of Tuxpan and the high-consumption hub in the capital city.</p><p>Audits of fuel terminals are one of several ways the Mexican government has been cracking down on private fuel importers. It has passed laws that make importing harder for non-Pemex companies, and has cancelled permits needed to import fuels. Social and environmental agency ASEA recently conducted joint inspections of fuel-related sites with the CRE and national guard that led to 23 full temporary closures and 17 partial temporary closures of sites for not complying with environmental impact rules, regulations governing gasoline fume emissions control systems or fuel storage at retail sites, it said on 3 September. It did not specify if any of those sites were fuel terminals.</p><p>It has also become difficult to obtain permits from Mexico's energy regulatory commission (CRE) to open new gas stations or to acquire Pemex stations, market participants have said.</p><p class="bylines">By Jens Erik Gould</p></article>
