Sempra Pipelines & Storage has acquired the Mexican pipeline and gas infrastructure assets of El Paso for $300m.
The acquisition includes a natural gas pipeline and compression assets in the Mexican state of Sonora and a 50% interest in a joint venture (JV) with Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil company. The JV operates two natural gas pipelines and a propane system in northern Mexico.
As part of the transaction, Sempra Pipelines & Storage acquired a seven-mile natural gas pipeline and a compressor station in Sonora, which transports natural gas from the US border to a Mexico power plant that provides electricity to Comision Federal de Electricidad, the country’s state-owned electric utility.
George Liparidis, president and CEO of Sempra Pipelines & Storage, said: “We are pleased with the closing of this transaction and the positive support from the Mexican regulators. These new assets allow us to quickly expand our natural gas infrastructure business in northern Mexico.”
The pipeline and natural gas infrastructure assets acquired are supported by customer contracts with an average duration of 13 years. The transaction has received authorization from the Mexican Federal Competition Commission.
The JV with Pemex owns and operates: the 23-mile, 24-inch Samalayuca natural gas pipeline and Gloria a Dios compressor station in Chihuahua that supply natural gas from the US to various Mexican power plants; the 70-mile, 36-inch San Fernando natural gas pipeline in the state of Tamaulipas; and the 114-mile, 12-inch pipeline that transports liquid propane from the Burgos production area to a delivery facility near the city of Monterrey.