The continued development of Mexico’s natural gas market will be vital for U.S. suppliers over the coming years, according to NAmerico Energy Holdings LLC (NEH) President Jeff Welch.

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Welch spoke on a virtual panel Tuesday at the LDC Natural Gas Forum 2020.

He noted that Mexico’s gas market is still in the nascent stages of development relative to the mature and highly liquid U.S. market, which began the deregulation process in the mid-1980s. In Mexico, by contrast, liberalization of the formerly state-dominated market didn’t start until after the 2013-2014 constitutional energy reform.

“I’m not going to pass judgment on where we are in Mexico with respect to maturity, but I would say that we’ve got some time to go,” said Welch, who served previously as the head...