Sierra Madre Gas Pipeline
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Sierra Madre Gas Pipeline, also known as the Saguaro Energía Gas Pipeline, is a proposed gas pipeline in Mexico.
Location
The proposed pipeline will run from the municipality of Guadalupe, Chihuahua on the US-Mexico border to the Saguaro Energía LNG Terminal in Puerto Libertad, Sonora state, Mexico.[1][2]
Project details
- Operator: Mexico Pacific Ltd, CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad)[3][4]
- Owner: Mexico Pacific Ltd, CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad)[3][4]
- Parent company: Q-LNG Holdings, LLC[5][6], AVAIO MPL Special, LP[5][6], DKRW Energy Partners, LLC[5][6], CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad)[3][4]
- Capacity: 2800 MMcf/d[1][3][7]
- Length: 800 km[1]
- Diameter: 48 inches[1][8]
- Status: Proposed
- Start year: 2028-2029[9]
- Cost: US$14 billion[4][10] to US$15 billion[9] (LNG Terminal and pipeline combined)
- Financing:
- Associated infrastructure: Saguaro Energía LNG Terminal, Saguaro Connector Pipeline
Background
Between May and August 2023, multiple sources reported that Mexico Pacific Ltd — developer of the Saguaro Energía LNG Terminal in Puerto Libertad, Mexico — had reached an agreement with the Mexican government to develop a new gas pipeline to import fossil gas from Texas's Permian Basin to Mexico's Pacific coast via the states of Chihuahua and Sonora.[3][8][10][11]
Details of the pipeline's exact route and development timeline remained sketchy, but Mexico Pacific Ltd stated in a press release that the parties had reached a "20-year agreement" under which fossil gas would be transported from the Permian Basin to the Saguaro LNG export terminal via "Mexico Pacific’s pipeline in the U.S. and... CFE’s pipelines in Mexico."[4]
In November 2023, Mexico Pacific announced that it had awarded an EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract for the pipeline to GDI Sicim Pipelines and Bonatti.[7] Mexico Pacific's website described the project as an 800-kilometer, 48-inch pipeline with a capacity of up to 2.8 Bcf/d of fossil gas, crossing through 16 municipalities in the states of Chihuahua and Sonora.[1]
Construction of the pipeline was expected to begin in 2024[2][9], with an estimated completion date of 2028 or 2029.[9]
Connection with ONEOK's Saguaro Connector Pipeline at the US-Mexico Border
The Sierra Madre pipeline would be fed with fossil gas from Texas via the 155-mile, 48-inch Saguaro Connector Pipeline proposed on the US side of the border by Saguaro Connector Pipeline LLC (a subsidiary of Oklahoma-based ONEOK)[11][12], together with a 1000-foot connector pipeline to be constructed across the Río Grande approximately 18 miles southwest of Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County, Texas.[13] In a January 2023 filing with the US Dept of Energy, ONEOK stated that its Saguaro Connector Pipeline would connect at the border to "NewCo Mexico Pipeline, which has a planned delivery to a natural gas export facility under development on the West Coast of Mexico."[13] A protest motion filed by the Sierra Club in April 2023 identified the natural gas facility mentioned in ONEOK's original filing to be Mexico Pacific's Saguaro Energía LNG Export Terminal.[14] Other sources confirmed the connection between ONEOK's Saguaro Connector Pipeline and Mexico Pacific's Saguaro Terminal, but without mentioning any specific pipeline route on the Mexican side of the border.[15][16][17]
In February 2024, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a permit for the Saguaro Connector Pipeline[18][19], and ONEOK announced that it expected to make a final investment decision (FID) on the project by mid-2024.[20][21]
In June 2024, the Sierra Club and Public Citizen sued FERC for improperly limiting its analysis of the project to the 1000-foot connector pipeline at the US-Mexico border, while neglecting to consider the full impact of the much longer main pipeline.[22]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Sierra Madre Pipeline". Mexico Pacific. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mariano, Efrain (2024-01-08). "Energy & Commerce | Obra de Gasoducto Sierra Madre iniciará a mediados de 2024". Energy & Commerce. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "CFE y MPL acuerdan inversión de 13,000 millones de dólares para planta de licuefacción y gasoducto en Sonora". El Economista. July 16, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Presidential Endorsement of Mexico Pacific Project and Strategic Alliance with Comisión Federal de Electricidad". Mexico Pacific. July 18, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Change in Control; Mexico Pacific Limited LLC". Federal Register. 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Exhibit A: Ownership of Mexico Pacific Limited LLC As of and After September 30, 2021" (PDF). US Department of Energy. 2021-10-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Mexico Pacific awards Saguaro LNG pipeline contract". LNG Prime. 2023-11-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 García, Karol (2023-07-25). "México comenzará exportación de gas natural licuado en el 2025". El Economista.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Mexico Pacific reveals plans to invest a further $15bn in LNG projects in northern Mexico". Newsbase. 2024-06-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Mexico Pacific to pump $14 billion into pipeline, plant". Reuters. May 3, 2023.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "ONEOK's Saguaro Connector Pipeline Files Permit Application for Proposed Natural Gas Border-Crossing Facilities at the U.S. and Mexico Border". PR Newswire. December 20, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Hobbs, Allegra (2023-01-12). "Saguaro Connector Pipeline, to carry natural gas to border for export, under federal review". The Big Bend Sentinel.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Saguaro Connector Pipeline, LLC; Notice of Application and Establishing Intervention Deadline" (PDF). US Dept of Energy - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. January 5, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Motion to Intervene and Protest of Sierra Club" (PDF). US Department of Energy - Office of Fossil Energy. 2023-04-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "ExxonMobil Afliate Signs Binding Offtake Deals With Mexico LNG Project" (PDF). NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence). 2023-02-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Rosa, Claudia De La. "LNG developers in Mexico face long road ahead". ICIS Explore.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Oneok Still Evaluating Saguaro Pipeline for Mexico LNG Export Project". NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence). August 22, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Order Issuing Presidential Permit and Granting Authorization Under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act". FERC. 2024-02-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "US regulators approve Mexico Pacific LNG's Saguaro connector pipeline". Reuters. 2024-02-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "ONEOK Announces Higher Fourth Quarter and Full-year 2023 Earnings". ONEOK. 2024-02-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Following FERC Approval, Oneok Eyeing Midyear FID for Saguaro Connector Natural Gas Pipeline". NGI (Natural Gas Intel). 2024-03-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Sierra Club, Public Citizen Sue FERC for Flawed Approval of Texas Gas Pipeline to Mexico". Sierra Club. 2024-06-13.
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