USLNG Mexico Update

In The Eye of The Storm: North American LNG Stunted, but Raring to Go (NGI)

Christopher Lenton, Sergio Chapa (July 15): Mexico has many LNG projects under construction that utilize US feed gas. Because of this, they are bound to the same approval process that USLNG is, needing construction approval from FERC and export approval from DOE. Thus, they were also hurt by the USLNG pause. Going through each project and their current statuses:

• Altamira – still missing non-FTA permit, the ship currently there is just acting as floating storage, might be used to ship gas to Puerto Rico or Boston (not restricted by Jones Act)
• Energía Costa Azul – supposed to be in service by mid-2025, first LNG will hopefully be earlier, hoping to be Mexico’s first LNG
• Mexico Pacific – started construction in Puerto Libertad, non-FTA permit expires in 2025, supposedly the pause won’t affect this process
• Amigo LNG – non-FTA permit expires in Dec. 2027, might be able to meet this deadline
• Gato Negro – obsolete import terminal being converted, could be a small regional exporter

Things to look out for:

• Just because pause is lifted doesn’t mean DOE has to act (defacto pause)
• Who becomes next CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad)
• In Latin America small regional exporters operating on 5 year contracts are dominating
• Middlemen has bought lots of current LNG shares, will need to find buyers as exports come online

In all “There’s never a dull moment in LNG” Link to Content