El Pasoans fueling up in Juarez as prices spike in U.S.

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Some El Pasoans are crossing into Ciudad Juarez to fill up their vehicles as gasoline prices are on the rise here in the U.S.

“The gas is over the clouds — it’s almost $5 a gallon. We already came out here and put gas in Juarez because, in El Paso, it is overly expensive,” El Pasoan Rene Gaucin said in Spanish after filling up his car in Juarez.

On Wednesday, gas prices were over $4 a gallon in El Paso and 16 pesos per liter in Juarez, currently around $3 a gallon.

“I’m starting to think I should go to Juarez and fill it up because it’s crazy,” said El Pasoan Anai Santarriaga, who regularly crosses into Juarez. She said that, until now, she never considered filling up her gas tank in Mexico.

“It’s better to fill up here (Juarez) than wasting more money over there, you know,” El Pasoan Oscar Diaz said.

A gasoline vendor in Juarez says he has been seeing a lot of people from El Paso waiting in line to get gas.

“We’ve had a few days where it was noticeable. The people come very early, they are here at 6 in the morning. The first cars that come in are Americans. They wait for a while and the first thing they ask is how much is the gas, and then they make the comment that it is so much more expensive over there (in El Paso)” said Victor Chavez, a Juarez gasoline vendor.

Fernando Carbajal, the president of a gasoline vendors group, said there is a big difference in gas prices in El Paso and Juarez, even though the gas in Juarez comes from the United States.

“It is very feasible that people are passing to get gas from Ciudad Juarez because there is such a big difference. But don’t rule out the fact that we also consume product from the United States. (The gas) that we consume in Juarez is from the U.S.,” Carbajal said in Spanish.

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