Mexico’s process for planning new natural gas pipelines and gas-fired power plants is very top-down, with state-owned Cenagas (owner of Pemex’s legacy pipeline network) and Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) playing key roles. But the massive buildout of pipelines south of the border has been largely accomplished by private-sector companies like TC Energy, Esentia Energy and Grupo Carso, which have the financial and technical wherewithal to execute complex projects costing many billions of pesos. Now, these midstreamers are working to advance another round of projects that will spur additional gas exports from the U.S. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at the leading publicly and privately held companies in Mexico’s gas-pipeline space.
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In Part 1, we noted that (1) U.S. gas exports to Mexico have been rising steadily as new gas pipelines and gas-fired plants come online and (2) two successive presidential administrations in Mexico have seen the value of having the private sector play a major role in pipeline development — as long as Cenagas and CFE take the lead in pipeline planning, support and oversight. We also began a review of the leading private-sector companies involved in building new pipelines in Mexico with a look at TC Energy, which owns and operates eight large pipelines there.
Today, we follow that up with profiles of three other companies that have built — or are planning to build — gas pipelines in Mexico: Esentia Energy, Grupo Carso and Engie SA.
Esentia Energy
Esentia got its start back in the mid-1990s as Fermaca Enterprises, a family-owned company formed to develop gas pipelines and related infrastructure in Mexico. By 2014, Fermaca had developed a handful of projects, including the Tarahumara Pipeline in Chihuahua state in northern Mexico (just south of El Paso, TX; more on Tarahumara later). That same year, Swiss-based private-equity firm Partners Group acquired an unspecified majority interest in Fermaca for an estimated $750 million. Over the next several months, Partners refinanced Fermaca’s debt and raised more than $500 million in additional equity to help finance a substantial buildout of the midstream company’s Mexican portfolio. Fermaca also co-developed with ONEOK (and still holds a 50% ownership in) the Roadrunner Pipeline from the Waha Hub in West Texas to the origin point of the Tarahumara Pipeline (again, more on these in a moment).
In late 2022, Partners Group was transitioning the Fermaca Enterprises name to Esentia Energy, and in November 2025 it launched an Esentia initial public offering (IPO) that raised more than $600 million. Partners said it would use most of the proceeds to help fund planned capacity expansions along the midstreamer’s primary pipeline corridor down Mexico’s spine and the rest to reduce Esentia’s debt.
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About the song
“Private Dancer” was written by Mark Knopfler and appears as the fourth song on side two of Tina Turner’s fifth studio album of the same name. Mark Knopfler originally wrote the song for Dire Straits’ 1982 album, Love Over Gold, but the song didn’t make the final cut for the LP. Some of the original Dire Straits tracks were used on Turner’s version of the song. Released as a single in November 1984, it went to #3 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Personnel on the record were: Tina Turner (vocals), Hal Lindes (guitar), John Illsley (bass), Alan Clark (keyboards), Terry Williams (drums), John Diggle, Carter (percussion), Mel Collins (tenor saxophone), and Jeff Beck (guitar solo).
The album, Private Dancer, was recorded in 1983-84 at the Farmyard, Mayfair, Wessex, Good Earth, Abbey Road, and CBS studios in London. Produced by Terry Britten, Carter, Leon Chancler, Wilton Felder, Rupert Hine, Joe Sample, Greg Walsh and Marilyn Ware, it was released in May 1984. It went to #3 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has been certified 5X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Seven singles were released from the LP.
Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bullock) was an American singer, songwriter, actress and author. Known as “The Queen of Rock and Roll,” she was a dominant figure in pop culture. Turner started her professional career in 1956, when she joined future husband Ike Turner’s band. The band became the Ike & Tina Turner Review in 1960. With the Ike & Tina Turner Review, she released 22 studio albums, eight live albums, two soundtrack albums, 31 compilation albums and 70 singles. As a solo artist, Turner released nine studio albums, two live albums, six compilation albums and 72 singles. She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and has won 12 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Kennedy Center Honors. She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Review and as a solo artist, and is also a member of the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. Turner appeared in 18 films and was the author of five books. She died in May 2023 at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, at 83.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
