Grupo Carso, Led by Carlos Slim, to Construct Strategic Gas Pipeline in Northern Mexico for CFE

In a significant move in the Mexican energy sector, Grupo Carso, the company led by magnate Carlos Slim Helú, secured the construction and operation of a gas pipeline in northern Mexico aimed at supplying the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

The subsidiary Gasoducto Centauro del Norte, belonging to Grupo Carso, signed a crucial investment, development, and execution agreement with the CFE. Additionally, a specific agreement has been established for the transportation of natural gas along a pipeline that will traverse the states of Sonora and Baja California, with a total length of 416 kilometers.

Competitive Supply

This strategic project will enable the supply of natural gas to existing power plants in both regions, as well as to the combined-cycle plants González Ortega and San Luis Río Colorado, currently under construction. Through this agreement, the CFE ensures a competitive supply of natural gas for electricity generation in the states of Baja California and Sonora.

In addition to strengthening the energy infrastructure in the region, the initiative is projected to generate employment, with an expectation of creating around 700 job positions. It also highlights the possibility of the CFE participating as a shareholder in the company responsible for the development of the gas pipeline.

Diversifying Investments

This ambitious step by Grupo Carso is part of its growing interest in the energy sector. Since September 2023, the company, along with the Slim family, has been diversifying its investments. This strategy includes the acquisition of 49.9% of a subsidiary of the U.S. oil company Talos Energy, with interests in the Zama mega oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. Following a dispute, this field will be operated by the state-owned oil company Pemex.

Control Empresarial de Capitales, the Slim family's business firm, has consolidated stakes worth a total of $327 million in companies such as Talos Energy Inc. and Harbour Energy Plc.

The latest recorded move was the acquisition on December 18 of the entire shareholding of Petrobal, owned by the Baillères family, in the offshore fields Ichalkil and Pokoch, with an investment of $530 million.