Mexico-Northern Central America Gas Pipeline

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The Mexico-Northern Central America Gas Pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline that would transport gas from southeastern Mexico to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

Location

The pipeline would run from Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, passing en route through Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, San José, Guatemala, Acajutla, El Salvador, and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Spur pipelines running off the main pipeline would serve Guatemala City, Guatemala and San Salvador, El Salvador.

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Project Details

• Operator: to be determined
• Parent Company:
• Proposed capacity: to be determined
• Length: 600 km / 373 miles
• Status: Proposed
• Start Year: 2029

Background

Proposals for a pipeline transporting North American natural gas to countries in Central America date back to the 1980s. The 600-kilometer Mexico-Northern Central America Pipeline is one of several infrastructure developments included in the integrated economic development proposal for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico published in 2019 by CEPAL, the United Nations Economic Commission for Central America. The pipeline would transport natural gas from southeastern Mexico to urban centers in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, with the goal of diversifying the energy mix, improving energy efficiency and security, increasing economic opportunity and spurring industrial development in the three Central American nations.

CEPAL's updated development plan for the region published in September 2021 estimates a budget of US$ 1.67 billion for the project, with proposed financing through the BID (Inter‑American Development Bank) and BCIE (Central American Bank for Economic Integration) and an 8-year development timeline.

Challenges to the pipeline's development include insufficient demand for natural gas and an increased emphasis on renewable energy in Central America, the availability of LNG imports from Trinidad and Tobago, risk aversion to large pipeline projects on the part of potential developers, and changes in US government policy that have reduced international support for new fossil fuel infrastructure.