Fuel costs are hovering so excessive within the US that drivers in El Paso, Texas, are taking the determined step of crossing the border to replenish in Mexico, the place costs are greater than a greenback cheaper, in accordance with reviews.
“We’re near El Paso and, sure, we’ve seen extra site visitors, extra individuals with Texas license plates,” Jonathan Rivas, a supervisor at a Juárez, Mexico, fuel station, informed the El Paso Occasions.
Drivers in El Paso are paying a median of $4.19 a gallon north of the border, in accordance with AAA. However simply throughout the border in Juarez, Mexico, the worth is simply $3 a gallon, reviews KTSM.
“We already got here out right here and put fuel in Juarez as a result of, in El Paso, it’s overly costly,” El Paso resident Rene Gaucin informed the Border Report.
The drive isn’t simple. Texans heading again from Mexico have to sit down of their idling automobiles whereas ready in lengthy safety traces to re-enter america. Wait occasions on the worldwide ports of entry in El Paso common about an hour in the course of the week and as much as three hours on the weekend.
El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, are sister cities, divided by the Rio Grande. For most individuals dwelling in El Paso, driving into Mexico takes quarter-hour or much less.
“I’m beginning to suppose I ought to go to Juarez and fill it up as a result of it’s loopy (right here),” El Paso resident Anai Santarriaga informed KTSM.
Usually, fuel on the US facet of the border is cheaper than on the Mexican facet, in accordance with the El Paso Occasions. That’s as a result of many of the fuel stations and costs in Mexico are managed by the federal authorities underneath the model PEMEX.
Costs on the pump within the US have soared within the final two weeks resulting from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the US ban on Russian vitality imports.
As we speak, the nationwide common for one gallon of fuel is $4.33, says AAA. On Feb. 22, earlier than the conflict in Ukraine began, it was $3.53.