Caracas.- The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, proposed yesterday that his country be a “safe supplier” of gas to Mexico for its “energy efficiency”, despite the fact that in the Caribbean country it is increasingly common for citizens to resort to firewood for their daily tasks, given the lack of this fuel.
Until the close of this edition, the Mexican government had not expressed any position on the Venezuelan president’s offer.
Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reversed the decision to ban natural gas exports, so supplies can be resumed in Mexico.
In a letter, Abbott said he was rescinding the decision he made last February 17, to use all natural gas only for local consumption, in the face of the declaration of emergency he decreed for the heavy frosts recorded in the state.
This came after electricity generation was normalized in Texas, because since last weekend, in the face of heavy frosts, the extraction and transport of natural gas was interrupted, due to the fact that deposits and products were frozen.
Since Wednesday afternoon the Mexican government, through Economy Secretary Tatiana Clouthier, has said they expect natural gas exports to resume as normal.
Maduro proposes alliance
“Looking at gas production plans, we should aim to be safe gas suppliers in Mexico for their efficiency and energy,” Maduro said at a meeting with a presidential commission seeking to re-float the Venezuelan nation’s oil industry. .
Last Tuesday, Mexico’s National Natural Gas Control Center (Cenagas) declared a “critical alert” in the Integrated National Transportation and Storage System (Sistrangas) due to the limited fuel flow, which had been caused by low temperatures in the southern United States.
In a statement, the National Natural Gas Control Center indicated that the declaration “takes effect from this February 16, 2021 remaining in force until further notice.”
The same Tuesday, the National Center for Energy Control (Cenace), a Mexican electricity system operator, announced scheduled power outages for the center and west of the country, as a result of the massive blackout that affected 4,700,000 d ‘northern users.
Maduro asked members of the commission to speak “with our Pemex brothers in Mexico,” as well as with the government of that country.
“I have seen the whole issue of gas supply and the effort being made by President López Obrador to resolve it, now aggravated by the snowfall in Texas that has left a difficult situation in both Texas and Mexican territory,” he stressed. .
Therefore, he proposed as “one of the new goals” for the Venezuelan industry “to make a strategic alliance” with Mexico in this matter. This alliance must always be made, according to the Venezuelan head of state, in compliance with the supply to the community and the national industry.
Maduro also said that “Venezuela’s doors are open to oil investment” by the United States, a country that imposed an energy embargo on it in 2019.
* With information from Ivette Saldaña and Agencies.