Fiscalía General de la República (FGR), the Mexican attorney general’s office, has seized around 59 million litres (371,000 bbl) of fuel from a storage terminal in San Jose Iturbide, Guanajuato, Mexico, on the basis that its origins have not yet been proven. According to market sources, ExxonMobil, Marathon and Shall are the users of the terminal.
Investigations began on 3 July 2026 when authorities detained an individual allegedly unloading fuel at a retail station in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, and, when asked, was unable to document the fuel’s origin or traceability. This led to searches at the retail station, an LPG facility in Dolores Hidalgo and finally the San Jose Iturbide terminal, as well as the seizure of accounting records, invoices, seven tank trucks and 10 storage tanks.
The types of fuel seized includes 33.5 million litres (210,700 bbl) of regular gasoline, 7.3 million litres (45,700 bbl) of premium gasoline and 18.3 million litres (114,900 bbl) of diesel. The terminal’s owner, Gas Natural del Noroeste (a Grupo Simsa affiliate), says that the facility ‘operates with the required federal, state and municipal authorisations, including environmental, industrial safety and railway permits.’
According to its press release, the FGR states: ‘The FGR continues investigations aimed at proving the possible commission of crimes foreseen in the Federal Law to Prevent and Punish Crimes Committed in Matters of Hydrocarbons, as well as the various ones foreseen in the Federal Tax Code, in case the ownership and traceability of all the hydrocarbon located is not proven… During the proceedings, carried out with the support of members of the Security Cabinet of the Government of Mexico, particularly from the Secretariat of National Defense and the National Guard, as well as elements of the Public Security Forces Commission of Guanajuato, who intervened as witnesses of the act and assistance, supporting in the respective search, vehicles, accounting documentation and invoices were also secured.’
