Mexico Scraps Plans To Build Ten (10) Nuclear Plants; Will Switch to Natural Gas -- Implications for the Bakken

Japan, Germany, Mexico, France, Great Britain, the US,  

Link here.

Mexico, one of three Latin American nations that uses nuclear power, is abandoning plans to build as many as 10 new reactors and will focus on natural gas-fired electricity plants after boosting discoveries of the fuel.

The country, which found evidence of trillions of cubic feet of gas in the past year, is “changing all its decisions, amid the very abundant existence of natural-gas deposits,” Energy Minister Jordy Herrera said yesterday in an interview. Mexico will seek private investment of about $10 billion during five years to expand its natural gas pipeline network, he said.

Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest economy, is boosting estimated gas reserves after Petroleos Mexicanos discovered new deposits in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and shale gas in the border state of Coahuila. The country was considering nuclear power as part of plans to boost capacity by almost three-quarters to 86 gigawatts within 15 years, from about 50 gigawatts, and now prefers gas for cost reasons, he said. 

All I can say is: very, very interesting.

I can't resist: I guess if the administration/EPA bans fracking in the US, not only will the US be importing $100 oil, but we will be importing $8 natural gas (natural gas currently sells in the US for about $3.50  -- and we have a lot of it.).

I keep thinking of that New York Times article some months back regarding natural gas.