Minister: Energy sector needs US$140bn by 2009

Mexico needs to invest US$140bn in the energy sector by 2009 to assure competitive, sufficient and quality energy supplies, new energy minister Fernando Elizondo was quoted as saying by local press at a sustainable development event hosted by state oil company Pemex. Natural gas prices have risen 61% since the beginning of the year to US$6.46/mBTU, which is a particularly pressing issue when considering that last year Mexico imported just over a third of its natural gas requirements. "In Mexico one of the main problems, whether an energy reform is passed or not, is the supply of natural gas," Spanish power company Unión Fenosa's Mexico president Jamie de la Rosa was quoted as saying. De la Rosa mentioned the possibility of importing natural gas from Egypt in four or five years' time to meet the demands of Unión Fenosa's three natural gas-fired plants in Mexico.