Pipeline Gas Is Not a Strategic Reserve: Mexico Imports 75% of Its Consumption

The natural gas flowing through the 21,000 kilometers of pipelines of the Centro Nacional de Control del Gas Natural (Cenagas) does not amount to a strategic reserve, according to analysts consulted by Bloomberg Línea on October 9, 2026, one day after the agency estimated fuel for three days in the event of a supply cut from the United States.

Natural gas underpins 62% of Mexico's electricity generation, and the country imports 75% of its consumption, almost all of it from the United States, according to El Financiero. The episode that sparked the debate was maintenance at the Inyección Ramones point in Texas, from September 29 to October 4, and a notice for an unforeseen event in the El Paso Natural Gas system, which led to a temporary reduction in shipments. The Mexico Transition Factbook 2026 by BloombergNEF projects that the share of net U.S. gas imports in total supply will rise from 75% in 2025 to 80% in 2030. That flow is the main channel of energy integration between the Permian basin and Mexico's electric system.

Eduardo Prud'homme, a partner at the firm GADEX, called the three-day figure completely wrong: three days of national demand equals 21,000 million cubic feet per day, but the Cenagas network moves about a third of that volume. "If it falls below 5,500 million cubic feet per day, the system collapses and there is no way to move the gas," he said. David Rosales, of the consulting firm Elevation Ideas, agreed that the fuel in pipelines is not a reserve, though two of the country's three regasification terminals, operated by Vopak in Tamaulipas and by Korea Gas, Mitsui and Samsung in Colima, offer limited help. A Cenagas spokesperson responded that the episode was an operational eventuality and that the sector is coordinated for scenarios of three, five or more days.

Analyst Adrián Duhalt told Bloomberg Línea that Pemex recorded record levels of natural gas flaring in the second quarter of 2026. The trajectory of the state company's gas production and the volume crossing the Texas border will define the path of dependence through 2030.

This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.