Tuxpan-Tula Gas Pipeline

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The Tuxpan-Tula Gas Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline project in Mexico. The pipeline's 114 km eastern section has been operational since 2022. Development of the remaining 200 km section remains stalled as of August 2025.

Location

The pipeline's path runs from Tuxpan, Veracruz to Tula, Hidalgo, passing through the states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo.

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Project Details

Tula East

• Operator: TC Energía México
• Owner: TC Energía México
• Parent Company: TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corporation)
• Capacity: 886 million cubic feet per day
• Length: 114 km (71 miles)
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2022
• Associated infrastructure:
  • Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Gas Pipeline

Tula Central-West

• Operator: TC Energía México
• Owner: TC Energía México
• Parent Company: TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corporation)
• Capacity: 886 million cubic feet per day
• Length: 200 km (124 miles)
• Diameter: 36 inches
• Status: Construction
• Start Year:
• Associated infrastructure:
  • Tula-Villa de Reyes Gas Pipeline

Background

The Tuxpan-Tula project was designed as a key link in a multi-pipeline system designed to bring larger volumes of Texas-sourced natural gas into central Mexico. Gas transported from the United States via the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Gas Pipeline was to enter Mexico's gas transport system at Tuxpan on the Gulf Coast, then continue via the Tuxpan-Tula Gas Pipeline to Tula, where it would merge into the Tula-Villa de Reyes Gas Pipeline.

As originally designed, the pipeline was to have a length of 287 kilometers and a diameter of 36 inches. It was initially scheduled for completion in 2018, but construction was delayed due to the government's failure to properly consult with indigenous communities affected by the project. In November 2018, TC Energy announced that construction had been further delayed by complications with local permitting and fee processes, and that construction was now scheduled for completion in 2020.

In January 2020 Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that the pipeline would be rerouted away from areas in Puebla state that are held sacred by local indigenous groups, raising new questions about the timeline for the project's completion. Ongoing negotiations left the commissioning date uncertain. A September 2020 report from Mexico's SENER (Secretary of Energy) showed that the pipeline was still only 87% complete, while other reports showed the pipeline coming into service no earlier than 2022.

In August 2021, TC Energy announced that it had reached an agreement with the CFE to move forward with completing the pipeline. In September 2021, the CFE officially announced it would build a section of the pipeline approximately 120 kilometers in length that would address the concerns of local residents, notably avoiding sacred areas.

In January 2022, the CFE announced additional details of the pipeline's new route, which would pass through five indigenous communities in the municipalities of Huauchinango and Xicotepec. In response, local residents and activists expressed concern that the pipeline's developers have failed to provide timely information to the affected communities or to the National Institute of Indigenous People (INPI), as required by ILO convention 169 regarding the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples.

As of early 2022, the timeline for commissioning the pipeline remained uncertain, despite efforts by TC Energía and the CFE to expedite its completion.

In July 2022, TC Energy signed an agreement with Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to build the new Southeast Gateway Gas Pipeline, which was described as an alternative route to the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline. The agreement sought to address several other energy-related issues, including continued public opposition to the original Tuxpan-Tula route; plans called for development of a new route for the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, consistent with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's pledge to not violate indigenous rights.

In August 2022, TC Energy and the CFE reached a final investment decision to build the Southeast Gateway pipeline, with the project anticipated to be in service in 2025. Under terms of the agreement, other projects such as Tuxpan-Tula were to be developed through a public-private partnership between TC Energy and CFE. The partnership agreed to terminate their suspended international arbitrations related to the Tula-Villa de Reyes and Tuxpan-Tula pipelines, and to construct the central segment of the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, subject to sanctioning at the end of the year.

Tula East

In its 2022 annual report, TC Energy announced that the 114 km eastern section of the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline (Tula East) had been placed into service in Q3 2022, under the new partnership with CFE. The report described Tula East as follows: "The east section of the Tula pipeline transports natural gas from Sur de Texas to power plants in Tuxpan, Veracruz."

Tula Central-West

The remaining unfinished sections of pipeline, labeled in TC Energy's 2022 annual report as "Tula – central and west sections" were reported to be under construction, with a combined length of 200 km. The report described these unfinished sections as follows: "The pipeline will interconnect the completed east segment with Villa de Reyes near Tula, Hidalgo to supply natural gas to CFE combined-cycle power generating facilities in central Mexico."

In August 2022, CFE's executive director Manuel Bartlett announced that construction work on the remaining sections of pipeline would resume in the fourth quarter of 2022 and would be managed by TC Energy's local subsidiary Transportadora de Gas Natural de la Huasteca. CFE's 2022 annual report, released in April 2023, confirmed that completing the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline while respecting the rights of indigenous communities was a key priority for the partnership between TC Energy and CFE. In June 2023, TC Energy issued a press release highlighting its ongoing joint efforts with CFE to advance construction of the Tuxpan-Tula project, despite continued opposition from some communities in the pipeline's path.

As of 2025, there appeared to have been no meaningful progress towards completion of the central and western sections of the pipeline. TC Energy's 2023 annual information form, published in February 2024, stated that the central segment of the Tula pipeline remained subject to an FID, and that the company continued to work with the CFE on the Tula pipeline’s west section to procure necessary land access and resolve legal claims. Company reports to shareholders published between Q1 2024 and Q2 2025 simply stated that "we continue to evaluate the development and completion of the Tula pipeline, with the CFE, subject to a future FID and updated cost estimate." Annual reports released in early 2025 indicated that the project remained indefinitely stalled, noting that TC Energy had ceased recording AFUDC (Allowance for Funds Used During Construction) for the Tula project in late 2023, based on ongoing delays in the FID process.

Opposition

February 2022 protest against the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline; Source: La Jornada de Oriente

Signs of local opposition to the Tuxpan-Tula Gas Pipeline - Source: Lado B

Residents of the Sierra Norte have opposed the the project on the grounds that it would damage the environment and their traditional way of life.

Communities in the pipeline's path have also complained of the developers' failure to respect local land rights, provide clear information, and comply with requirements for prior consultation with indigenous groups.

The 216-page report Territorios del Água, published in December 2021, meticulously documented resistance to the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline among local communities in the Sierra de Puebla-Hidalgo.

Following the August 2022 final investment decision on the Southeast Gateway pipeline, 18 organizations led by the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) warned of the pipeline's grave risk to the surrounding coral reef corridor. They alleged that TC Energy and CFE were trying to avoid scrutiny of the project's total impact by filing separate statements for two sections of the pipeline, and urged oil and gas regulator Agencia de Seguridad, Energía y Ambiente (ASEA) to order TC Energy and CFE to submit a single impact statement for the project as a whole.

Articles and resources

Related GEM.wiki articles

[[Category: Proposed pipelines in Mexico]