Largest US gas export pipeline to Mexico delayed

The Valley Crossing Pipeline between Texas and Mexico will not start up until April 2019, international media reported on Thursday, shortly after US regulators approved a separate gas link between the two countries.

Initially scheduled to come on line this month, Valley Crossing is to be the largest pipeline exporting US gas to Mexico, with a capacity of up to 73.6 mcm (2.6 bcf) of gas per day once complete.

Poor weather conditions and setbacks on the Mexican side have forced a delay in testing until the Mexican portion is completed, said Canada’s Enbridge, the pipeline’s operator on the US side, in comments cited by the Houston Chronicle. Infraestructura Marina de Golfo, a joint venture between TransCanada and local infrastructure company IEnova, will operate the pipeline south of the border, where it is known as the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline.

In an order published on Monday, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it approved Kinder Morgan’s USD 56.4-million Sierrita gas pipeline expansion project to boost gas flows between Tucson, Arizona and the Mexican border to 9.15 mcm (323 mcf) per day.