Permian Producers’Gas Still Stranded By South-of-the-Border Pipeline Delays

摘要

A key frustration of Permian Basin producers desperate to ship gas out of the region is that ample pipeline takeaway capacity already exists to handle the glut-it just has nowhere to deliver the gas. Pipes might be able to deliver more than 4 billion cubic feet of gas per day to the Mexican border,but only 0.5 Bcf/d is making it across.And it's not clear if that volume will grow later this summer,in the fall,or sometime next year when Permian supplies are likely to be even more abundant.Nobody can say when Mexico will deliver the promised market for the Permian's wealth of oil-associated gas because the bottlenecks stalling the Mexican receipt projects can be intractable- especially holdups stemming from disputes with indigenous groups who hold even more say under the administration of leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.To put this situation in perspective,the Permian region is now expecting the first real slug of takeaway capacity in Octo- ber,when Kinder Morgan is scheduled to start service on the 2 Bcf/d GulfCoast Express Pipeline(NGW Apr.29'19).But by then,more than triple that capacity would be on line if receipt pipelines in central Mexico had progressed as Sener,the Mexico state energy utility,had planned.