Mexico: Fuels

Background

Motor vehicle fuels in Mexico have been historically distributed by PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos), the state owned and operated oil company. President Enrique Peña Nieto proposed an energy reform in 2013 to allow independent companies to participate in the oil business supply chain, from exploration and production all the way downstream including the import, transportation, distribution, storage and sale of vehicle fuels. The energy reform was approved by Congress and implemented. As a result of this energy reform the Energy Secretariat (SENER) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) granted hundreds of permits to national and international companies to import, transport, store, distribute and sell fuels.

A series of energy reform laws in 2025 centralized regulatory oversight of Mexico’s hydrocarbons and energy sectors and established the framework for biofuel production, blending, and quality standards. These laws include the Biofuels Law, the Hydrocarbons Sector Law, and the PEMEX Law. Under these laws, all functions of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) are now centralized under the Secretariat of Energy (SENER) and the newly established Energy Commission (CNE). CNE operates under SENER’s administrative structure [6797].

Important steps in the evolution of Mexican fuel quality specifications include the following three standards:

• NOM-086—Before the energy reform, vehicle fuel quality was regulated by NOM-086-SEMARNAT-SENER-SCFI-2005 [2893].
• NOM-EM-005—As part of the energy reform, the responsibility of issuing regulations was transferred entirely to CRE. In late 2015, CRE issued a temporary standard, NOM-EM-005-CRE-2015 [3535], which would be valid for a maximum of 1 year. NOM-EM-005-CRE-2015 was based on NOM-086 with some additions to provide testing responsibilities for the supply chain players, as well as to incorporate new testing methods.
• NOM-016—After NOM-EM-005-CRE-2015 expired, CRE published NOM-016-CRE-2016 [3534].

Diesel Fuel

NOM-016 specifies several middle- and heavy-distillate fuels including:

• Automotive diesel intended for use in diesel engines for automotive service,
• Agricultural/marine diesel intended for use in diesel engines for agricultural and marine service,
• Industrial diesel used in direct combustion processes in industry,
• Domestic heating oil,
• Fuel oil and
• Intermediate Fuel Oil (IFO), used for propulsion of deep-sea vessels.

It also defines Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (DUBA - Diésel de Ultra Bajo Azufre) as automotive diesel with a maximum sulfur content of 15 mg/kg.

Automotive diesel fuel in Mexico has been transitioning to 15 mg/kg sulfur since 2007. However, a lack of sufficient domestic supply has prevented the fuel from being available nationwide. Automotive and Agricultural/marine diesel fuel are discussed further elsewhere.

Gasoline

Gasoline specifications are also included on NOM-016. Two grades are defined; Premium gasoline has a minimum RON of 94.0 and Regular gasoline has a minimum MON of 87.0. All gasoline is subject to a maximum annual pool sulfur limit of 30 mg/kg and a per batch limit of 80 mg/kg. Limits on volatility vary depending on geographic area and time of year.

The use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME) as oxygenates in Regular and Premium gasolines is permitted up to a maximum content of 2.7% oxygen by mass throughout the national territory with MTBE being the primary oxygenate used. In 2022, Mexico imported 1.1 million tonnes of MTBE from the US finished gasoline with MTBE already blended is also imported into the country.

The use of ethanol is prohibited in the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico (ZMVM), Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (ZMG) and Monterrey Metropolitan Area (ZMM). A maximum content of 5.8% by volume of anhydrous ethanol as an oxygenate is permitted in Regular and Premium gasoline in the rest of the national territory.

Renewable Fuels

Until 2026, the blending of renewable fuels in Mexico was minimal. As already noted, ethanol blending is not permitted in several metropolitan areas and capped at 5.8% in the rest of the country. Very little biodiesel and almost no renewable diesel is consumed.

In 2017, Mexico's Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) amended NOM-016 to raise the ethanol blending cap to 10%. However, the change was struck down by Mexico’s Supreme Court in January 2020 [6798].

Legislative initiatives were taken in 2025 with the aim of encouraging increased use of biofuels. While increasing the domestic production of sustainable aviation fuel has been an important focus for the Mexican government, increased blending of ethanol in gasoline is anticipated along with an increase in the ethanol cap in NOM-016 to 10% [6797].