A natural gas pipeline deal that gives privately held Esentia Energy a complete, start-to-finish link between the Permian Basin and Mexico’s Pacific Coast is highlighting a heretofore under-the-radar LNG project being planned at the end of that now-1,400-mile pipeline system.
Mexico’s still-rising demand for U.S.-sourced natural gas — and new pipelines to deliver it — has been driven by the buildout of new power plants and, more recently, by planned LNG exports. Today, we discuss more private-sector midstreamers and the new gas demand that may bring them new opportunities.
Mexico’s process for planning new gas pipelines is very top-down, with state-owned Cenagas and CFE playing key roles. But the buildout of pipelines there has been largely accomplished by private-sector companies that are now planning another round of projects that will spur more gas exports from the U.S.
In Mexico, state-owned players like Cenagas and CFE continue to play central roles in planning and underpinning the development of natural gas pipelines. At the same time, however, Mexico has leveraged the participation of a handful of private-sector companies that have built a significant share of the newer pipelines there.
