Currently, about 75 percent of the country’s gas is imported from the United States.

On Wednesday, Cuitlahuac Garcia, director of the National Center for Natural Gas Control (CENAGAS), informed that Mexico has taken steps to cope with a temporary reduction of about 20 percent in natural gas supplies imported from the United States.

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A week earlier, Mexico had been notified that roughly one-fifth of the imported natural gas that the Latin American country receives through its national pipelines would be cut off, which would be a serious blow.

Garcia said Mexico had managed the disruption through coordination among CENAGAS, state oil company Pemex, the Federal Electricity Commission, the National Energy Control Center and the Energy Ministry. Coordinated measures could allow the system to cope for up to three days if imported gas supplies were interrupted.

About 75 percent of Mexico’s natural gas was imported from the U.S., Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said, noting that a key goal of her government’s energy policy was to strengthen energy sovereignty and reduce reliance on foreign supplies.

Approximately 54% to 60% of Mexico’s entire electricity grid relies directly on natural gas imported from the United States. Washington just demonstrated that it can cripple Mexico within 72 hours at will.

The arbitrary 20% reduction in U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico was… https://t.co/WoXfmiijC8 pic.twitter.com/UOtxIcFUnj

— León Barrena Rodríguez & Partners LLP (@lbrglobal) October 7, 2026

The Mexican leader also pointed out that expanding solar, wind and geothermal power would help curb gas demand and prevent dependence on the fuel from growing.

Other measures include capturing gas that is currently flared and improving energy efficiency, she said, adding that the government is also exploring the potential to develop unconventional gas resources in parts of the country, particularly the northeastern state of Coahuila.

As Mexico implements policies to expand its energy security, its reliance on U.S. gas poses economic risks for the Latin American nation.

“Three days. That is the margin Mexico would have in the event of a total cutoff of natural gas supplies from abroad. This figure highlights one of the energy system’s key vulnerabilities: the country relies heavily on imported gas and has limited storage capacity,” commented journalist Guillermo Ortega.

“The impact would not be limited to gas supplies alone. A significant portion of electricity generation relies on this fuel, so a prolonged disruption could also affect industries and other productive activities,” he added.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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