The Mexican Association of Hydrocarbon Companies (AMEXHI) put the investment required to produce natural gas through large-scale fracking in northern Mexico at $108 billion. The estimate, reported on September 2 and 3 by El Financiero and Expansión, was presented at the Energy Infrastructure Forum of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE).
The analysis, presented by the association's CEO Merlín Cochran, covers 24 projects to produce up to 9 billion cubic feet per day of gas, a volume equivalent to national demand as modeled in the study. The figure illustrates the scale of the challenge involved in replacing with domestic production the gas Mexico currently imports, mainly from the United States, to supply industry and power generation. AMEXHI clarified that this is a hypothetical scenario: assembling that level of capital under current conditions is unrealistic, and the association proposes phasing development in gradually.
The scenario assumes seven years of regulatory procedures before first production, even if a contract were signed today, with a production peak expected toward the following decade, even if development began immediately. The association anticipates that the first wells will cost approximately 250 percent more, due to the lack of infrastructure and the learning curve. Its comparative analysis places the state's share in these projects at between 85 and 90 percent under a mixed contract, compared to the 60 to 65 percent range applied in other countries across the continent. Despite these challenges, Cochran affirmed that sector companies have expressed interest in participating, and noted that globally, unconventional projects operate primarily through license contracts.
Mexico's unconventional resources remain classified as prospective, and Cochran considers it necessary for the sector's technical committee to clarify their potential; the next step depends on that work. In parallel, the Ministry of Energy projects 100 electric power plants to be under construction by 2027, as announced by its head, Luz Elena González, at the same forum.
This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.