Mexico regulators contemplate new gas authority

Mexican regulators are considering the establishment of a new authority to exclusively manage the country’s natural gas resources, international media reported Friday.

Hector Moreira, a commissioner at Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission, told reporters that the vision was for the new entity to acquire all of NOC Pemex’s non-associated gas assets, as well as state-owned infrastructure related to gas gathering and processing.

The move would be intended to help Pemex refocus its efforts on highly profitable oil projects while allowing the country to ramp up the development of gas resources.

“We are in a paradox where we are an importing nation when we have the potential to be a major gas producer,” Moreira said.

Though Mexico contains vast conventional and unconventional gas resources, the country’s gas output has nearly halved since 2009, resting at 110 mcm (3.9 bcf) per day in 2018. Meanwhile, Mexico has been importing more gas from the US each year, with this year’s average at 144 mcm (5.1 bcf) per day.

The proposal to create a dedicated gas authority was first published in a technical report released by the commission last week. The country’s incoming administration, headed by president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has not yet responded to the idea.