Several recent articles said that Mexican cartels make a lot of money stealing gas from Mexican pipelines


https://www.apnews.com/1c106a2...413db4e11db6fc2361c2

Mexico explosion death toll hits 66; 85 missing

Hidalgo state Gov. Omar Fayad says the death toll from a pipeline explosion in central Mexico has risen to 66.

Over 85 other people on Saturday were listed as missing a day after a massive fireball erupted at an illegal pipeline tap in the small town of Tlahuelilpan, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north of Mexico City.

Municipal health director Jorge Aguilar Lopez said: “What happened here should serve as an example for the whole nation to unite behind the fight that the president is carrying out against this ill.”

The tragedy came just three weeks after new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched an offensive against fuel theft gangs drilling dangerous, illegal taps into pipelines an astounding 12,581 times in the first 10 months of 2018, an average of about 42 per day.

It is now likely to further intensify efforts to crack down on the illegal taps and focus attention on Lopez Obrador’s fight against the $3 billion per-year illegal fuel theft industry.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sdy,

Funny, we were contacted by a company to propose how to help secure oil & gas pipelines / facilities south of the border oh maybe 5-7 years ago

We gave the company a the number and they laughed.

$3B per year, times 5-7... oh, $15-21B.

I'm laughing now.

At least in the central part of the country, gas lines have swelled to 2 -3 hours as fuel shortages increase. From what I read, these fuel taps would not be possible without the help of fuel company employees supplying equipment. I was told by a Mexican refinery employee that Mexico does not have sufficient refining capacity and pipes much of its crude to the US for refining and then pipes it back.

According to the new President, supply and price aren't a problem - right.

Corruption is everywhere in Mexico and the left wants more of this here?

Mike

Link

this is a long article from Sep 2018 about the Mexican drug cartels moving into the gasoline industry



https://www.rollingstone.com/c...s-oil-cartel-717563/

"these fuel taps would not be possible without the help of fuel company employees supplying equipment"

that is what the article says

equipment and information

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
this is a long article from Sep 2018 about the Mexican drug cartels moving into the gasoline industry

https://www.rollingstone.com/c...s-oil-cartel-717563/

"these fuel taps would not be possible without the help of fuel company employees supplying equipment"

that is what the article says

equipment and information

Not surprised.

Corruption exists at every level in Mexico. Politicians, cops, military, employees.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
this is a long article from Sep 2018 about the Mexican drug cartels moving into the gasoline industry



https://www.rollingstone.com/c...s-oil-cartel-717563/

"these fuel taps would not be possible without the help of fuel company employees supplying equipment"

that is what the article says

equipment and information

I was amazed to read in that article that the cartel revenue from the stolen fuel was roughly equal to the revenue from drugs. Fuel theft is a huge business!

Someone should do something to make gas non-flammable.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmanic:
Fuel theft is a huge business!

And the overhead is even lower than it is in any other variety of shady buisness.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Someone should do something to make gas non-flammable.

Mexico is a 3rd world cesspool because it is corrupt. The culture is corrupt. The gov't is corrupt. The people are corrupt. All of this with a minority of exceptions. Corruption is being allowed to steep into our culture. If it goes unchecked, there will be a tipping point beyond which there is no return to civility and 3rd world consequences will be ours to suffer.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:Corruption exists at every level in Mexico. Politicians, cops, military, employees.

Sounds like a real shithole. I know, let’s import about 20,000,000 of them here!

Ran into a gal I've known since she was an intern 12 to 15 years ago. She now runs a department that schedules fuel deliveries, and said that Mexico has moved as much gasoline transport to tanker trucks as possible to cut down on the rampant pipeline theft.

To put the theft in perspective, every day they are stealing:

2x the refinery output of the Newell Refinery in WV

1.5x the refinery out of the Superior Refinery in WI

1.2x the refinery output of the Tacoma Refinery in WA

80% of the refinery output of either Conoco's or ExxonMobil's refineries in Billings, MT.

100% of Chevron's refinery in Honolulu

3.25 Olympic sized swimming pools

And here’s the video....lotsa people on fire.

How stupid do you have to be?



https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=sLpTO_1547875958

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Mexico is a 3rd world cesspool because it is corrupt. The culture is corrupt. The gov't is corrupt. The people are corrupt. All of this with a minority of exceptions. Corruption is being allowed to steep into our culture. If it goes unchecked, there will be a tipping point beyond which there is no return to civility and 3rd world consequences will be ours to suffer.

I always point out that every door & window has bars. It ain't to keep gringos out.
Not every Mexican is untrustworthy, I know many that are wonderful people, but the mass-acceptance of this bullshit is what makes it perpetuate.

quote:

And here’s the video....

I was thinking that these illegal taps were a legitimate valve system that was dispensing fuel from the pipeline. I had no idea that their "tap" was a gasoline geyser with people sucking it up off of the ground.

Gasoline spraying all over the place and flooding the surrounding area. What could possibly go wrong?

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

Someone should do something to make gas non-flammable.

I'm pretty sure that it's already in-flammable.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
...
Gasoline spraying all over the place and flooding the surrounding area. What could possibly go wrong?

... a match?

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

And here’s the video....

I was thinking that these illegal taps were a legitimate valve system that was dispensing fuel from the pipeline. I had no idea that their "tap" was a gasoline geyser with people sucking it up off of the ground.

Gasoline spraying all over the place and flooding the surrounding area. What could possibly go wrong?

Holy crap! Are these people dumb or what?

The video is shocking.

Dozens of people filling containers from a high pressure gas leak spewing gas 12 to 15 feet high, then it all lights up in fire.

at 1 minute into the video, it appears the video caught the moment when the fire erupted.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Rolling Stone article said that frequently the people tapping the pipe line don't have the right equipment or knowledge, so they leave with gas still coming out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


https://www.reuters.com/articl...-theft-idUSKCN1PE08C

Fuel thieves punctured the Tula-Tuxpan pipeline a few miles from one of Mexico’s main refineries on Friday. Up to 800 people flocked to fill plastic containers from the 7-meter ( 23-ft) gasoline geyser that ensued, officials say. A couple of hours later, it exploded.

Mexican Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said on Sunday the number of dead in the incident had risen to 79 people.

The disaster in Tlahuelilpan, however, has brought renewed scrutiny of the strategy. Lopez Obrador has faced repeated questions about the disaster, demanding he explain why soldiers deployed to guard the duct did not chase people away from the leak and how quickly supplies to the duct were cut after Pemex detected the leak.

Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero on Saturday said a valve had been closed at the pipeline once a drop in pressure from the leak had been noted, but he did not say at what time that happened. Fuel spurted from the pipeline for around two hours before it exploded , with no visible loss of pressure.

Romero said about 10,000 barrels of high octane gasoline were in the section of the pipeline between the Tula refinery and the village when it blew up on Friday.

The defense ministry and Lopez Obrador said there were only 25 soldiers present and the army did not want to hold back the crowd. Critics say authorities should have been firmer in controlling the crowd and sealing the area, and should have called for reinforcements.

Romero said the pipeline had been out of service since late December as the government tried to secure it from gangs who had hit it 10 times in Tlahuelilpan municipality. Since they began reopening it on Jan. 16 it had been hit four times he said.

What the actual fuck?

That video is beyond belief.