Mexico News: TransCanada Acquires Contract to Build $500M Natural Gas Pipeline

TransCanada Corporation has announced that it has acquired a contract to build a $500 million natural gas pipeline in Mexico.

The North American energy company will build, own, and operate the Tuxpan-Tula Pipeline, which will be supported by a 25-year natural gas transportation service contract with the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico's state owned power company, MarketWatch reported.

"The Tuxpan-Tula Pipeline demonstrates our continued commitment to developing Mexico's energy infrastructure to meet the need for increased natural gas supply," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer, as quoted by MarketWatch.

The pipeline will be roughly 250 kilometers (155 miles) long and have contracted capacity of 886 million cubic feet a day (MMcf/d), the news outlet further reported. Its construction will originate in Tuxpan in the state of Veracruz and will extend through the Puebla and Hidalgo states. The pipeline will supply natural gas to CFE combined-cycle power generating facilities in the chosen states and to the central and western regions of the country.

According to MarketWatch, the pipeline will serve power generation facilities currently operating with fuel oil, which will be converted to utilize natural gas as their base fuel. Construction of the pipeline is expected to kick off in 2016.

The Tuxpan Tula Pipeline is expected to further harmonize TransCanada's business in Mexico, MarketWatch further reported. TransCanada, which was behind the construction of natural gas and liquids pipelines, power generation, and gas storage facilities for 65 years, also owns and operates the Tamazunchale and Guadalajara pipeline systems in Mexico. The major company is also in the middle of constructing the Topolobampo and Mazatlan pipelines.

The company said it will have invested about $3 billion in Mexico by 2018 and will continue to seek for more business opportunities in the country, CBC wrote. TransCanada operates a network of natural gas pipelines extending over 68,000 kilometers (42,100 miles), utilizing all major gas supply basins in North America, MarketWatch noted.

TransCanada Recognized for Transparency in Climate Change Reports

TransCanada has been recognized for its transparency in climate change reporting for four years in a row, ScandOil reported. The company is deemed as the leader for disclosing quality of climate change related information to investors and the global marketplace.

The recognition was given by the CDP, the international not-for-profit that propels business and the government to act on climate change, ScandOil added. TransCanada was also recently awarded a position on the Canada Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) in the Canada version of CDP's yearly global climate change report.