Mexico says LNG terminals to reduce need for U

Mexico says LNG terminals to reduce need for U.S. gas

May 18, 2004 - Reuters Power News
Author(s): Reuters

By Leonard Anderson La Jolla, Calif., May 18 (Reuters) - Mexico's top energy regulator said on Tuesday that Mexico was on track to develop four liquefied natural gas terminals to cut the country's dependence on expensive gas imports from the United States and to meet rising demand. Dionisio Perez-Jacome, president of Mexico's energy regulatory commission, known as the CRE, said three planned LNG terminals on the Pacific Coast and one on the Gulf of Mexico could help to ease Mexico's reliance on gas imports from the United States. Mexico is also evaluating a proposal for an LNG terminal project by ChevronTexaco Corp. off the shore of Baja California, Perez-Jacome said. With demand for natural gas rising by 6.8 percent this year and domestic supplies rising by 5.1 percent, Mexico is a net importer of about 1.4 billion cubic-feet a day of gas from the United States. LNG is a super-cooled form of gas that can be transported long distances by ship, returned to its gaseous state and moved through pipelines to customers.

Mexico's LNG terminals, which could receive tanker shipments from producers in South America and elsewhere, along with increased development of gas fields in northeast Mexico, could move the country toward become a gas exporter around 2007, Perez-Jacome said. Mexico's imports of LNG, meanwhile, could reach about 2.6 billion cubic-feet a day by 2012, he said. On Monday, Mexico's Energy Minister Felipe Calderon defended plans to build the LNG plants on Mexico's Pacific coast against criticism from environmentalists and some lawmakers. The LNG supplies could be crucial to save Mexico from a future power crisis, he said, adding that it was "vital" that Mexico diversify its imports to include cheaper gas from other countries, including Peru and Bolivia.

On Tuesday, a former Bolivian energy minister made a plea Tuesday for increased development of South America's fledgling natural gas industry in order to build new pipelines linking the region's markets. Alvaro Rios, managing director of the Bolivian consulting firm Prosertec Ingenieria, called for structural reforms and more private investment in South America's natural gas business to build up and integrate gas pipeline systems to link Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and other countries. Rios formerly served as Bolivia's minister of mines and hydrocarbons. Bolivia's future gas exports now hinge on a July referendum, after a plan to export gas via Chile, a traditional territorial rival, sparked protests that ousted Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada as president.

In another LNG report to the conference, Richard Cape, president of Atlantic LNG Co. of Trinidad and Tobago, said the island nation has potential natural gas reserves of 90 trillion cubic feet. The country's current proven and probable gas reserves are about 30 trillion cubic feet. "Future LNG expansion in Trinidad (and) Tobago looks pretty good indeed," Cape said. Trinidad and Tobago ranks as the No. 1 exporter of LNG to the United States. (Additional reporting by Catherine Bremer)