Signaling the continuing ramp-up of natural gas production inthe country, Mexico’s Petròleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) lastweek awarded a $5 million engineering, procurement and constructioncontract to recommission and upgrade 10 sour gas sweetening plantsin Chiapas at the Cactus Petrochemical Complex.

The contract was given to Grupo ProfesionalPlaneación y Proyectos S.A. de C.V. (PYPSA) of MexicoCity, which is nearly finished rehabilitating an unused compressionstation in Cempoala, Veracruz. The Cempoala station’s upgrades areexpected to help optimize PEMEX’s use of its national gastransmission system, which already has a ready supply of naturalgas, to the central and northern parts of the country. PYPSA hasprovided services to PEMEX for several years.

“Mexico remains dependent on U.S. imports for gas supply;however, this year’s start-up of the Cempoala and Cactus facilitieswill help to lessen that dependency,” said Guillermo Barnetche,director general of PYPSA.

In 1995, Mexico’s gas consumption was estimated to be about 2.4Tcf/year. However, under a Mexican government mandate to use acleaner burning fuel and to better use its gas transmission system- along with stronger industrial growth – the country is expectedto see boosted gas consumption to 3.4 Tcf/year over the next 10years.

Still, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that Mexicocontinues to import about 40 Bcf/year from the United States toaccommodate the emerging country’s growth. Mexico is expected todraw more investment from its northern neighbor, however, resultingin net exports of gas from Mexico to the U.S by 2010. Mexico hassupplies in reserve both on land and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mexico first began developing its national gas system in 1977with the intention of supplying the northern part of the country,with destinations at Reynosa, near the Texas border, and at SantaAna. It planned to export excess supplies to the United States.U.S. gas contracts did not materialize, however, and three of theseven compression stations built were never placed into operation.Now, two are being rehabilitated for startup, including theCempoala No. 7 station.

Offshore, new developments as well as upgrades to the prolificCantarell Field, make additional facilities viable. There also isassociated gas from the fields coming ashore at the Atastagathering station in Chiapas. From Atasta, the gas is transportedto the Cactus plant along the Gulf Coast, and moved to Cempoala,which taps into a 780-mile, 48-inch diameter trunk line. TheCempoala facility is near Mexico City, and is about 275 miles fromCactus, tying into a 1,366-mile gas network. At Cempoala, the pipemoves gas north.

The Cempoala facility, already about 75% complete, willre-compress gas transported from the Cactus plant, with a designcapacity for 1.5 MMcf/d, which will supply gas to the Mexico Cityarea. Upgrades are expected to be completed in June, and the Cactusplant will ramp up in mid-September. The plant is designed forcontinuous operation, using a centrifugal turbo-compressor operatedby a gas turbine. The system design allows for twoturbo-compression trains in parallel, with one used for backup.

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