On an annual basis, U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico averaged 6.4 Bcf/d in 2024, up 25% from 2019 levels — the highest in nearly five decades of records. Mexico’s total natural gas consumption rose from 7.7 Bcf/d in 2019 to 8.6 Bcf/d in 2024, largely driven by the expansion of combined-cycle gas-fired power plants that now dominate its national grid.
Currently, U.S. gas reaches Mexico through four primary corridors — South Texas, West Texas, Arizona, and California — with a combined capacity of 14.8 Bcf/d and an overall utilization rate of about 43% in 2024. Infrastructure bottlenecks, including permitting delays and limited gas storage, continue to constrain flows despite rising demand.
“Cross-border gas trade between the U.S. and Mexico has become one of North America’s most stable energy linkages,” the EIA noted in its latest update. “Ongoing pipeline expansions and new power sector projects are expected to sustain record export volumes through the end of 2025.”
Pipeline exports from West and South Texas accounted for 91% of total U.S. gas deliveries to Mexico in 2024. The South Texas corridor, anchored by the Agua Dulce Hub, supplies northeastern Mexico, while the Permian Basin in West Texas supports central, northwestern, and southwestern markets.
Exports from West Texas alone tripled over the past five years — rising from 0.6 Bcf/d in 2019 to 1.8 Bcf/d in 2024 — as new pipelines came online. Projects such as Wahalajara, Samalayuca–Sásabe, and Villa de Reyes–Aguascalientes–Guadalajara systems have expanded capacity to connect U.S. supply with key industrial centers in Mexico.
Mexico’s Ministry of Energy continues to advance its domestic pipeline network to support growing consumption. The Sur de Texas–Tuxpan pipeline, a 480-mile subsea line, serves as a critical artery connecting U.S. gas to coastal regions and LNG facilities. It also links to the Gasoducto Puerta al Sureste (Southeast Gateway Gas Pipeline) — completed in 2025 — which now supplies gas to new power plants across the Yucatán Peninsula.
Additional infrastructure progress includes partial operation of the Tula–Villa de Reyes and Tuxpan–Tula pipelines (expected to be fully operational this year) and the planned expansion of the Energía Mayakan pipeline in the Yucatán. Construction has also begun on the Centauro del Norte pipeline, which will feed combined-cycle power plants in northwestern Mexico.
Mexico entered the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market in August 2024 when the Fast LNG Altamira FLNG 1 facility shipped its first cargo. Two additional LNG projects — Fast LNG Altamira FLNG 2 and Energía Costa Azul — are under construction with a combined export capacity of 0.6 Bcf/d.
These facilities primarily rely on U.S. natural gas imports, further deepening cross-border energy ties. Supporting infrastructure, including expansions of the Sur de Texas–Tuxpan and Gasoducto Rosarito systems, enable Mexico to emerge as both a major consumer and re-exporter of U.S. gas.
