Project Profile
Value: US$2.1 billion
Location: States of Tamaulipas and Veracruz, USA
Length: 800 kilometres (km)
Capacity: 2.6 bcf (74 mcm) per day
In service date: 2018
The Sur de Texas – Tuxpan (Marino) gas pipeline will transport natural gas from an underwater route in the Gulf of Mexico, from the South of Texas, USA to Tuxpan, Veracruz. Starting in the border city of Matamoros, the 523-mile pipeline will run underwater in the Gulf of Mexico to terminals in the port cities of Altamira, Tamalipas and Tuxpan, Veracruz. The Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Pipeline will be supplied by natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale using another natural gas pipeline that will be built connecting the Agua Dulce hub near Corpus Christi to the border city of Brownsville. It will supply natural gas to the CFE’s power generation plants located in the States of Tamaulipas and Veracruz, as well as the Eastern, Central and Western regions of the country.
This project will be interconnected to Nueces – Brownsville gas pipeline , which will soon start its bidding process and Tuxpan – Tula gas pipeline, currently under bidding process. This system will supply natural gas to new power generation plants, as well as those currently operating with fuel oil, which will be converted to use natural gas as their base fuel.
The project comprises the engineering, procurement, acquisition of real estate rights, permits and governmental approvals, funding, construction, operation and maintenance of a pipeline with capacity of 2,600 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD). The pipeline will have a length of 800 kilometres (km) and a 42-inch diameter. The project is supported by a 25-year natural gas transportation service contract for 2.6 billion cubic feet a day with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico’s state-owned power company. TransCanada expects to invest approximately US$1.3 billion in the partnership to construct the pipeline and anticipates an in-service date of late 2018. The bid for the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan project was presented in partnership with IEnova.
Operators:
TransCanada Corporation: 60% interest
IEnova (a subsidiary of Sempra Energy): 40% interest
Contractors:
Allsea: Hired to install 700-kilometre subsea pipeline from Texas to Veracruz.
Sub-Contractors:
First Subsea: Hired by Allseas to supply a 42” Ballgrab pipeline recovery tool (PRT).