A spokesman for Pemex told Reuters that exports of crude oil out of the Salina Cruz port were not affected because shipments at the port are fed by a pipeline. The blockade has affected supply and distribution terminals for petroleum products in Chiapas and Guerrero states as well as Oaxaca, and it hit jet fuel distribution to airports in Oaxaca and the resort city Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula.

The fishermen are demanding compensation for damages they claim were caused by a diesel fuel leak that occurred when a pipeline was illegally tapped last April in the municipality of Juchitan, Oaxaca, Pemex said.

Pemex said that although it had nothing to do with the fuel leak, and though a government environmental agency has determined that damage from the leak was minimal, it is willing to negotiate payment of damages to the fisherman.