US Records Record Exports of Natural Gas to Mexico; Can't Keep Up With Demand

Link here; original story from Houston Chronicle.

U.S. natural gas is flowing to Mexico at a record pace as demand for the fuel south of the border provides an outlet for surging supplies that have battered prices. Exports by pipeline to Mexico, which can't pump enough gas to meet local needs, reached 42.9 billion cubic feet in April as yields from shale formations drove U.S. output to an all-time high. Producers are shipping the fuel as prices at the Waha hub in west Texas, about 100 miles from Mexico, have dropped 65 percent from pre-recession levels in 2008. 

Rising shipments to Mexico signal that U.S. gas exports may keep expanding as onshore production climbs, said Biliana Pehlivanova, an analyst at Barclays Capital. "We certainly have the production capabilities to export," Pehlivanova said. 

U.S. gas production rose 0.5 percent to a record 78.58 billion cubic feet a day in April from 78.16 billion a month earlier, the Energy Department said last month. Net U.S. exports to Mexico rose 53 percent from April 2008 to a record this past April.