Mexico should be able to slash its imports of gasoline by around 40 per cent by 2008 thanks to upgrades of the country's six refineries, state oil monopoly Pemex said.

By 2012, higher domestic refining capacity means gasoline imports could be down more than 70 per cent to 63,000 barrels per day compared with an average of 231,000 bpd last year, Pemex said in a statement.
Mexico, the world's No 5 oil producer by volume, has to import around a quarter of its gasoline needs from the US due to a lack of refining capacity, sending heavy crude to US refineries and buying back fuel.
Cutting Mexico's reliance on imports of gasoline and natural gas from the US, to cover production shortfalls at home, has become a key energy sector objective among candidates vying for the presidency in 2006 elections.
Pemex has completed upgrades at four of its refineries – Tula, Madero, Salamanca and Cadereyta – under a multibillion dollar modernization program started in 1998.
Work on its Minatitlan refinery, due to be completed in 2008, should boost the plant's crude oil processing capacity by 150,000 bpd, Pemex said. Total refining capacity at Mexico's six refineries was around 1.5 million bpd in 2005.