MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Petroleos Mexicanos expects domestic ethanol demand to reach 15,000 barrels a day by 2012 after the state-run company begins usingthe fuel as a gasoline additive in Mexico's three main cities, Pemex said in a presentation.
Pemex will begin using ethanol in Guadalajara in 2010, and then in Mexico City and Monterrey by 2012. Pemex said it will buy ethanol from outside suppliers.
Mexico plans to use sugar as a feedstock for ethanol production. Officials have said 300,000 hectares of farmland will be set aside for ethanol by 2012.
Mexico is a major corn consumer, and President Felipe Calderon has opposed using corn to produce transportation fuels because it inflates food prices. Calderon also has said the country should develop more advanced technologies for biofuels production, such as using wood and other nonfood agricultural feedstocks.
Source: Peter Millard, Dow Jones Newswires; 5255-5001-5724; peter.millard@dowjones.com