A record number of gas pipelines are being built for the surging Mexican power market, the recipient of abundant gas supplies from the Permian Basin across the border in the United States. Indeed the volume of gas exports has tripled in the past ten years. Presently 4.9 billion cu ft per day are exported to Mexico.

And this figure, as impressive as it is, is about to jump even higher once the nine gas pipelines presently under construction in Mexico are completed. But given legal injunctions these pipelines, in various stages of completion, will likely require another year before they begin operation.

With gas pipelines constrained, Mexico has had to rely on more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports which also come from the United States.

Mexico has been the biggest buyer of U.S. LNG, purchasing about 19 percent of all U.S. cargoes between February 2016 and May.