By Nakul Nair, BloombergNEF
September may be the final month of consistent liquefied natural gas imports at Mexico’s Altamira terminal. The commissioning of the Sur de Texas pipeline renders LNG imports there redundant. Flows on Sur de Texas will rise to almost 1 billion cubic feet a day in October and lower 4Q 2019 Mexican LNG imports by 370,000 tons from a year earlier.
LNG is the marginal source of gas supply in Mexico and typically costs $3.16/MMBtu in the east. Sur de Texas cannibalizes this supply by offering gas at about $2.85.
As the only storage in Mexico exists at its LNG terminals, the odd cargo could still be imported to maintain reserves and provide flexibility to the gas system. According to Bloomberg's AHOY BV function, one cargo was delivered to Altamira on Sept. 26 and another on Oct. 11.
Altamira LNG sendout and storage estimates
