Energy Advisor

Raquel Bierzwinsky, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright U.S. LLP: “There are three key issues in determining whether this proposed facility in Coatzacoalcos can be built and be successful. First is the ability to contract adequate offtake in Europe. While Europe has dire needs for gas at this moment, its sources of energy will be significantly different in five to seven years, the time that it takes to develop, build and reach the commercial operation date on a liquefaction export terminal. Europe is already planning for alternative sources of energy and is aggressively contracting with U.S. LNG suppliers. Second, the supply of LNG must come from the United States, so the project will need to find LNG supply and transport it to Mexico. It will also have to compete with the U.S. LNG facilities that already have a competitive economic advantage, given their location and the reduced risk of transportation of the natural gas. The pipelines that will need to transport the gas to the proposed Coatzacoalcos facility need to be built. Third, with the current investment climate in Mexico, it could prove difficult to…”