Adam Williams

Mexico’s reliance on U.S. natural gas imports is likely to increase if Claudia Sheinbaum, who is expected to win Mexico's June 2 presidential election, maintains the state-centric approach of outgoing President Andrés Manual López Obrador, aka AMLO, according to analyst Carlos Ramírez Fuentes.

With only weeks remaining until Mexico’s June 2 presidential election, members of the energy industry are weighing in on what the sector might look like during an administration led by Claudia Sheinbaum of the Morena coalition, who has a commanding lead in national polls.   

The Amigo liquefaction project planned in western Mexico has been positively impacted by the Biden administration’s pause on new U.S. LNG export permits, according to LNG Alliance CEO Mutthu Chezhian.

Since taking office in 2018, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has reiterated that his government would prioritize energy security and reduce the country’s dependency on foreign fuel imports, such as natural gas and gasoline. 

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s presidential candidate for the ruling Morena Party, seeks continuity for the national energy sector. 

Expanding the use of natural gas tapped from Mexico’s abundant reserves would help to reduce the carbon intensity throughout many areas of the economy, said Jeremy Martin, vice president of Energy & Sustainability at the Institute of Americas. During the upcoming elections, however, Mexicans will decide whether they want more of the same or a return to a competitive bidding process for oil and gas development. 

The Tequila Valley Pipeline is soon to begin operations, allowing natural gas to reach tequila producers in Mexico’s Jalisco state, Rolando Martinez D’Meza Violante, Business Development Manager in Corporación CH4, told NGI’s Mexico GPI.

“A lot of the potential developments that nearshoring will bring are going to need access to natural gas,” Diana Pineda, a partner at Gónzalez Calvillo law firm in Mexico City, told NGI’s Mexico GPI.  “And the truth is, we’ve now gone several years without a new natural gas pipeline.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last week that the government waived four months of tax obligations for state oil and gas producer Petróleos Mexicans (Pemex) in an effort to free up cash flow for the debt-saddled company following a downgrade by the credit agency Moody’s. 

Mexico will need to attract more than $41 billion in investment to generate an estimated 37 GW of additional electricity capacity required to meet the increased energy demand anticipated by nearshoring, Abraham Zamora, president of the Mexican Energy Association (AME), said during a recent presentation in Monterrey.