Pipelines to transport gas from Texas to Mexico will directly benefit producers in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas. The Federal Electricity Commission recently awarded $3.6 billion in contracts to build pipeline projects designed to meet the country’s growing need for electricity. The FEC is Mexico’s state-owned power company.
The projects were awarded to TransCanada, Spectra Energy and others. TransCanada will build and operate a $2.1 billion natural gas pipeline in Mexico called Sur de Texas. The route travels from the border through the Gulf of Mexico into Tuxpan, doubling TransCanada’s natural gas capacity in Mexico.  
“We are extremely pleased to further our growth plans in Mexico with one of the most important natural gas infrastructure projects for that country’s future,” TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said in a press release. “This new project brings our footprint of existing assets and projects in development in Mexico to more than $5 billion, all underpinned by 25-year agreements with Mexico’s state power company.”
Another $1.5 billion went to Houston-based Spectra Energy to build a pipeline from Nueces County to Brownsville. With plans to transport up to 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, the pipeline should be complete in 2018. 
The Eagle Ford shale play rig count was at 33 in late June 2016. The area involved covers 30 South Texas counties.