In the wake on new border-crossing gas pipelines from the United States to Mexico, cheap U.S. shale gas is flowing into Mexico at an average of 3.26 billion cubic feet per day.

According to Citigroup and Genscape, during the next five years these pipeline flows are expected to more than double. That will help support U.S. gas prices, which have slid to a three-year low because of a domestic glut and sluggish consumption.

“That’s the sleeper story,” Richard Ennis, head of natural resources at ING Capital LLC, said in an Oct. 31 interview in New York. “In Mexico, if you look at how much natural gas they use, it’s tiny. All these new pipelines are going to triple their daily use. It’s pretty dramatic.”