Total opens 1st Mexico gas station

Total has opened its first service station in Mexico, in the upscale Lomas de Chapultepec district of the capital. The French company plans to open up to 100 stations across the country this year and 250 by end-2019.

The next stations to open will be located in the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla, Querétaro and Tlaxcala, the company's Mexico director general Alexandre Duret-Proux was quoted by El Financiero newspaper as saying.

Total is the latest in a slew of foreign firms to enter Mexico's fuel retail sector. Competitors include BP, Chevron and Glencore, all of which entered as a result of the opening up of the sector since the 2014 energy reform.

The company will sell Pemex-produced gasoline, with Total-brand additives, according to the report.

Some of the stations will be complemented by an on-site branch of the French company's convenience store Bonjour, and come with solar panels for self-supply.

Many of the stations will be conversions of facilities bought from Pemex, Duret-Proux was quoted as saying.

Also read: New pipelines, infra likely to lower Mexico fuel prices

Mexico expects to see US$4bn in fuel sector infrastructure investment over the coming years and plans to more than double fuel storage capacity as new players enter the market.