Read more: Local, Economy, State, PEMEX, Mexican Gas Prices, Mexico
Gasoline costs $7.53 pesos per liter in Mexico.
When you do the math, that's roughly $2.77 dollars per gallon.
The Mexican government keeps their gas prices lower through rising profits from oil exports.
But Rafael Otero with the University of Texas and Texas Southmost College's School of Business said the lower prices can't last forever.
Otero said Mexico does not make enough refineries and must import 40 percent of its gasoline and diesel from the United States at high international prices.
Mexico's state-run oil company PEMEX raises the price of gas one penny per month but Otero said that doesn't match the pace of rising global prices.
Although PEMEX is enjoying profits through the rising price of oil, but Otero said it is spending an amount equal to 2 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product to import gasoline.
He said Mexico is already feeling the financial pressure to raise gases prices.
"Can Mexico continue to subsidize its gasoline cap," Otero asked. "I don't think so...$20 billion dollars for Mexico is roughly equivalent to 2 percent of their gross domestic product. That's equivalent to their entire subsidy of agriculture."
Developing nations such as India and Malaysia have already slashed their gasoline subsidies sparking violent protests.
There are no proposals to change Mexico's gas price subsidies allowing Americans from Brownsville to San Diego to take enjoy some modest savings.
Some Americans worry about the quality of Mexican gas but Brownsville resident Ramon Lugo filled up his tank at a PEMEX gas station near the Los Tomates International Bridge in Matamoros on Sunday.
Lugo gas prices used to be more expensive in Mexico than those in the United States but that's changed now.
He said Mexican gasoline works fine in his minivan.
"It works good in here," Lugo said in Spanish. "It's the same and it's a lot cheaper over here."
The Mexican government has created an on-line list of federal inspection results for every gas station in Mexico.
The website includes a searchable database by state and city.
Two gas stations in Matamoros and another three in Reynosa failed recent inspections:
http://webapps.profeco.gob.mx/verificacion/gasolina/
Converting Prices
If you go to get gas in Mexico, you'll have to do some math.
At current exchange rates, Mexican gas prices can be converted to dollars by gallon by multiplying the price by 0.36.
(For example, 7.53 pesos per liter would $2.77 dollars per gallon.)
American gas prices can be converted to pesos per liter by multiplying the price by 2.75.
