Mexico on Wednesday unveiled a plan to spend nearly $10 billion by 2019 to construct a dozen natural gas pipelines, adding about 3,100 miles to the country’s network as it increasingly relies on U.S. natural gas to meet demand created by new power generation.

At least some of the projects have been previously announced and outlined by Mexico’s Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) on its website.

Included in the plan is a previously announced (see Daily GPI, June 24) 500-mile undersea pipeline from South Texas to Tuxpan in the state of Veracruz, which is estimated to cost about $3 billion. The pipeline is intended to meet demand for natural gas from power generators (new plants and conversions from fuel oil) in the states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz. Besides the 12 pipelines, an additional compressor station is also planned, according to the country’s newly released five-year plan.

Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquin Coldwell presented the plan “…which will provide certainty for investments in pipelines to transport natural gas and even the other links in the value chain…” the country’s energy ministry said, according to an English translation of the plan’s announcement.

New pipeline assets are slated to pass through 16 Mexican states: Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Zacatecas.

The projects listed on CFE’s website and outlined in the plan are San Isidro-Samalayuca, Tuxpan-Tula, Samalayuca-Sesabe, Colombia-Escobedo, Tula-Villa de Reyes, Villa de Reyes-Aguascalientes-Guadalajara, Sur de Texas-Tuxpan, and Laguna-Aguascalientes.

Additionally, the plan outlines four more projects: Lazaro Cardenas-Acapulco, Jaltipan-Salina Cruz, Salina Cruz-Tapachula, and Los Ramones-Cempoala.