Emerson Helps Expand Mexico’s Infrastructure to Meet Future Energy Demand

Mexican oil and gas giant Pemex and ENGIE, a French energy company, have selected Emerson to help upgrade and expand Mexico’s gas pipeline infrastructure.

The $8.9 million automation project is part of Mexico’s energy reform initiative. Because existing natural gas availability is expected to fall short of demand from a growing population and industrialization, the country is increasing capacity for importing low-cost natural gas from the United States. Pemex estimates demand for natural gas will grow 3.6 percent per year from 2012 to 2028, with total imports increasing to 3 billion cubic feet per day.

Emerson Process Management, a global business of Emerson, will automate the southern portion of the Los Ramones Phase II pipeline. When completed, the 291 kilometer Los Ramones II Sur pipeline will have the capacity to deliver 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Pemex and ENGIE selected Emerson based on its automation experts’ experience with natural gas pipeline projects and ability to deliver a fully integrated solution quickly.

The $2.3 billion Los Ramones pipeline system project demonstrates a significant investment to ensure access to lower cost energy, a crucial component for petrochemical production and broader manufacturing growth. One of the largest infrastructure project investments in Mexico’s history, the pipeline will extend from the Texas border to Central Mexico, with capacity to transport up to 2.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to Mexico, supplying a fifth of the country’s total natural gas demand.

“Our project specialists will help Pemex and ENGIE bring the pipeline into service quickly and safely so that Mexico’s homes and businesses get the energy they need,” said Leo Rodriguez, president of Emerson Process Management – Latin America. “In our past projects with Pemex, we’ve helped ensure safe operations, reduce measurement uncertainty, and maintain uninterrupted process flow.”

Emerson’s services and automation technologies for the project include design and implementation services; Fisher™ valves and regulators; Rosemount™ and Daniel™ measurement instruments; DeltaV™ distributed control systems; flow computers; and systems for emergency shutdown and for fire and gas detection.