Mexico’s state-owned power utility CFE as hired domestic EPC contractor Temura Services & Consulting to build the 247km (approx. 153 miles) Jáltipan-Salina Cruz oil pipeline, according to local reports.
Temura won a bid to construct the US$945mn pipeline, higher than an earlier estimate of US$425mn, according to local daily El Heraldo de México.
The pipeline will be a key element of Mexico’s Tehuantepec interoceanic corridor, a flagship project for the current administration. The corridor crosses Oaxaca and Veracruz states over the narrowest strip of land in mainland Mexico, connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
The pipeline is expected to transfer natural gas to and from the ports of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, running parallel to a new freight rail line and highway.
It is also set to supply 50-70Mf3/d (million cubic feet) of gas to power 10 planned industrial park projects in the works to be located adjacent to the pipeline.
According to the original bid, the pipeline will have an estimated maximum transport capacity of 500Mf3/d.
News of the award comes less than a week after local reports indicated the project would advance for now without a planned consultation of local indigenous groups.
