Starting next week, Mexico's Energy Regulatory Commission or CRE will publish monthly reference price indexes across different regions of Mexico.
The commission said in a statement Wednesday that these indexes will reflect transactions reported by marketers to CRE.
In recent months, CRE has received enough data to enable a breakdown of its monthly national price index to six regions of Mexico.
"This information will provide elements for market participants for its decision-making process for the development of transport and distribution infrastructure," CRE said.
The commission said it chose these regions based on transaction patterns, available infrastructure, tariff regions and Cenagas' Sistrangas network flow. The indexes will be published beginning on May 20.
These indexes will be ex-post reports that include all billed transactions in the regions.
The reporting process does not differentiate among fixed-price or indexed deals, or between spot or forward transactions. Separate reports were required for spot transactions.
The six regions are: * Region I: Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora. * Region II: Coahuila, Chihuahua and Durango. * Region III: Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. * Region IV: Aguascalientes, Colima, Jalisco and Zacatecas. * Region V: Mexico City, state of Mexico, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Michoacan, Morelos, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi and Tlaxcala. * Region VI: Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatan.
CRE's index regions mimic, to a certain extent, Pemex's firsthand gas price zones.
The main difference is that Pemex has different prices for Mexico's central region and the Bajio region. Also, it further breaks down prices in Mexico's southern area.
This measure will be beneficial for the development of the market as it starts to show prices around different potential hubs, injecting more transparency to Mexico's opening gas market.
S&P Global Platts expects Mexico's first gas hub to emerge in the northeastern industrial center of Monterrey due to the convergence of multiple pipelines there, good connectivity and high interconnectivity with Texas.
The development of other regional hubs in Mexico will be contingent on pipeline connectivity, storage, liquidity and demand.
CRE previously said that in February 30% of natural gas marketed in Mexico was sold by companies other than the state enterprises, CFE and Pemex.
Companies such as Shell, Macquarie, BP, World Fuel Services, Fermaca's Santa Fe Gas, IEnova's EcoGas and Total's Gas del Litoral and 11 other companies are operating in Mexico's liberalizing gas market.
