President Claudia Sheinbaum in her state of the union address Tuesday said Mexico is targeting a reduction of US natural gas imports by bolstering infrastructure and the development of unconventional resources.

• US pipeline imports top 8 Bcf/d
• Mexico plans 13 gas-fired plants
• Pipeline buildout targets Yucatán

Outlining her government’s plan to bolster energy sovereignty, Sheinbaum highlighted an $8.3 billion national pipeline project aimed at fueling underserved regions, such as the blackout-prone Yucatán Peninsula.

The pipeline plan would modernize transportation networks and fuel 13 combined-cycle power plants under development, the president said. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was also being studied, she said, to reduce natural gas imports.

“Currently, 75% of the natural gas we consume is imported, and 90% of that comes from unconventional resources,” she said.

Mexico has about 141 Tcf of unconventional resources situated principally in the Tampico-Misantla, Sabinas-Burro Picachos and Burgos basins. The Tampico-Misantla Basin had been ruled out for environmental reasons, but the Burgos Basin was “being studied,” the president said.

Mexico’s imports of US natural gas soared this summer as cooling demand and scorching temperatures intensified. The country imported 8.032 Bcf of US pipeline gas on Wednesday, according to NGI’s Mexico Natural Gas Flow Tracker.

Sheinbaum said by the end of this administration in 2030, Mexico would add 32 GW of power capacity. Six combined-cycle plants using natural gas have come online over the last two years. Mexico’s matrix would see renewable energies jump to 38% of the total by 2030 from 24%, she added.

To promote power development, “in February 2026, the private sector was called on to participate in the development of power generation projects through mixed-investment schemes.” Sheinbaum said 38 projects were awarded to bidding firms, and “additional tenders under this innovative modality will be rolled out.”

As for the country’s state-owned upstream operator, “We reduced Pemex’s debt by $20 billion.”

Fertilizer production also was rising, and “we have already begun the rescue of the national petrochemical industry through projects in Escolín, Cosoleacaque, Morelos, and Cangrejera,” she said.

Her address came one day after another set of blackouts hit the Yucatán Peninsula. Though service was quickly restored, they followed a trend of power disruption in an area that has suffered from a lack of natural gas supply and power infrastructure. State energy firm CFE blamed vandalism for failures at two transmission lines.