Los Ramones Gas Pipeline

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Sub-articles:

FrackSwarm portal Coal terminals Coal transport and infrastructure Oil and gas pipelines LNG terminals Pipeline construction costs Methodology and data notes

Los Ramones Gas Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline running through the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Guanajuato, Mexico.

Location

The pipeline runs from Camargo (Tamaulipas state) to Apaseo el Alto (Guanajuato state). Its route passes through key junctions at Los Ramones (Nuevo León state), Villagrán (Tamaulipas state) and Villa Hidalgo (San Luis Potosí state) before continuing south through San Luis de la Paz (San Luis Potosí state) and Parque Industrial Querétaro (Querétaro state) to Apaseo el Alto.

Loading map...

{"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"400px","height":"300px","centre":{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":24.2574126,"lon":-101.9054836,"icon":""},"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","strokeColor":"#FF0000","strokeOpacity":"1","strokeWeight":"2","pos":[{"lat":26.297919,"lon":-98.776447},{"lat":25.682706,"lon":-99.459615},{"lat":24.511096,"lon":-99.537665},{"lat":22.450203,"lon":-100.680806},{"lat":21.291918,"lon":-100.52453},{"lat":20.822993,"lon":-100.444319},{"lat":20.4583418,"lon":-100.6419696}]}],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":5,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[]}

Project Details

• Operator:
  • Los Ramones I: IEnova / Gasoductos del Noreste)
  • Los Ramones II North: IEnova / TAG Pipelines Norte)
  • Los Ramones II South: Engie / TAG Pipelines Sur
• Owner:
  • Los Ramones I: IEnova (100%)
  • Los Ramones II North: IEnova (50%), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (50%)
  • Los Ramones II South: Engie (50%), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (45%), Other (5%)
• Parent Company: Sempra Energy, BIP, Engie, Pemex
• Current capacity: 51.2 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) total
  • Los Ramones I: 21.7 bcm/y
  • Los Ramones II North: 14.8 bcm/y
  • Los Ramones II South: 14.7 bcm/y
• Length: 534 miles / 860 km
  • Los Ramones I: 116 km
  • Los Ramones II North: 452 km
  • Los Ramones II South: 292 km
• Diameter:
  • Los Ramones I: 48 inches
  • Los Ramones II North: 42 inches
  • Los Ramones II South: 42 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year:
  • Los Ramones I: 2014
  • Los Ramones II North: 2016
  • Los Ramones II South: 2016

Background

Supplying roughly 20% of Mexico’s total natural gas demand, Gasoducto Los Ramones is an 860 km-long pipeline that transports natural gas into northeastern and central Mexico from the Eagle Ford shale gas deposit near Agua Dulce in southern Texas.

The pipeline consists of three separate sections, which were built in two phases as follows:

Los Ramones Phase I starts at the Frontera compression station - on the United States border east of Camargo, Tamaulipas and opposite Rio Grande City, Texas, where it interconnects with the Net Mexico (Agua Dulce) Gas Pipeline, - and ends at the Los Ramones compression station in Nuevo León, where it connects with Mexico's national gas transport network Sistrangas (Sistema de Transporte de Gas Natural).

Los Ramones II North runs between Los Ramones, Nuevo Leon and Villa Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi.

Los Ramones II South runs from Villa Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi to Aposeo El Alto, Guanajuato.

Los Ramones I was built between March and December 2014, while Los Ramones II was completed between August 2014 and June 2016.

The three Los Ramones segments constitute half of the six private pipelines included in Sistrangas, Mexico's primary network for transporting natural gas.

Construction of the pipeline was overseen by an international consortium including Brazilian infrastructure specialist Odebrecht, the Mexican company Arendal, and the Italo-Argentine firm Techint.

Technical specifications

The pipeline's total capacity is 4.95 billion cubic feet of gas per day, or 51.2 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Los Ramones Phase 1 is a 118 km-long pipeline with a diameter of 48 inches and a designed capacity of delivering 2.1 billion cubic feet of gas per day, or 21.7 billion cubic feet per year.

Los Ramones II North is a 450 km-long pipeline with a diameter of 42 inches and a designed capacity of delivering 1.43 billion cubic feet of gas per day, or 14.8 billion cubic feet per year.

Los Ramones II South is a 292 km-long pipeline with a diameter of 42 inches and a capacity of 1.42 billion cubic feet of gas per day, or 14.7 billion cubic feet per year. However, actual throughput during Ramones II's first year of operation was limited to only 400 million cubic feet per day due to a design flaw that allowed dust to clog the pipeline's filters.

Ownership

Mexico's state-owned petroleum company Pemex initially held a majority stake in all three sections of Gasoducto Los Ramones. However, Pemex has gradually sold off most of its interest in the pipeline as part of a focus shift towards its core businesses of exploration and production.

Los Ramones Phase I is operated by Gasoductos del Noreste, a subsidiary of Gasoductos de Chihuahua, which started as a joint venture between Pemex's gas unit PGPB (Pemex Gas y Petroquimica Basica) and IEnova (the Mexican subsidiary of Sempra Energy International). In September 2016 IEnova bought out Pemex’s 50% stake in Gasoductos de Chihuahua to attain full ownership of the northernmost section of the Los Ramones pipeline.

Los Ramones II North was initially held jointly by Gasoductos de Chihuahua and TAG Pipelines Norte (a division of PGPB). In March 2015, Pemex sold a 45% stake in the project to US-based global asset manager BlackRock and private equity firm First Reserve. In October 2017, Pemex sold an additional 25% stake in Los Ramones II Norte to IEnova. The latter sale left Pemex with only a 5% stake in Los Ramones II Norte, compared with IEnova's 50% and Black Rock and First Reserve's 45%. In October 2019, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) acquired Black Rock and First Reserve's stake in the Los Ramones II North pipeline.

Los Ramones II South was initially owned by TAG Pipelines Sur, a joint venture between GDF Suez (which subsequently changed its name to Engie) and Pemex. In March 2015, Pemex sold most of its interest in the project to US-based global asset manager BlackRock and private equity firm First Reserve, leaving Engie with a 50% stake in Ramones II South, with BlackRock and First Reserve holding 45%, and Pemex retaining the remaining 5%. In the second half of 2019, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) acquired Black Rock and First Reserve's stake in the Los Ramones II South pipeline.

Villa de Reyes Branch Pipeline

Project Details

• Operator: CFE
• Parent Company:
• Capacity: 276 million cubic feet per day
• Length: 11 miles / 19 km
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2017

Background

The Villa de Reyes Branch Pipeline (known locally as Gasoducto Ramal Villa de Reyes) is a 19-kilometer pipeline branching west from Gasoducto Los Ramones II to supply the thermoelectric Villa de Reyes power plant as well as the San Luis Potosí I and San Luis Potosí II combined cycle power plants that are scheduled to start their commercial operations in April 2020 and June 2024, respectively. It will eventually interconnect with the Villa de Reyes-Aguascalientes-Guadalajara Gas Pipeline and the Tula-Villa de Reyes Gas Pipeline. The branch line, with a length of 19 kilometers and a capacity of 276 million cubic feet per day, began operating in 2017.

Articles and resources

External articles

• Existing Oil and Gas Pipelines in Mexico
• Proposed Oil and Gas Pipelines in Mexico