Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday he is willing to take natural 

gas pipeline companies to court if negotiations fail to modify transport contracts with state 

power utility CFE.

"We will seek by one side to renegotiate these contracts that are damaging," Lopez Obrador 

said during a webcast press conference. "[We will do this] following the rule of law. But we are 

also willing to go to all the tribunals required no matter how lengthy the process might be. We 

can't maintain unfavorable contracts that goes against national interests. 

Lopez Obrador said he was personally, along with CFE Director Manuel Bartlett, reviewing 

pipeline contracts.

Mexico is not going to make any arbitrary or illegal decisions, Lopez Obrador said. However, 

there is too much money tied to these pipeline transportation contracts, which will make 

CFE's long-term viability difficult.

The government supports completing these pipelines to avoid CFE from having to continue 

making capacity payments without receiving any gas, he added.

There are seven CFE-sponsored pipelines delayed or halted due to social opposition. 

Meanwhile, CFE is making capacity payments for these unfinished pipelines.

Pipeline delays have occurred across much of Mexico, with two critical systems delayed in 

Central Mexico: TransCanada's indefinitely halted 886 MMcf/d Tuxpan-Tula and Tula-Villa de 

Reyes projects, providing the most uncertainty to pipeline flows and end-users in population-

dense areas.