Mexico eyes $10bn energy projects, Texas pipeline

Mexico's government announced nearly $10 billion in electricity and natural gas projects that include two pipelines linked to the United States.

The plans will add 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) to Mexico's gas pipeline system, Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said on Monday.

An 800-kilometer underwater pipeline costing $3.1 billion will connect Texas to the port of Tuxpan in the state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. It would become operational in 2018.

Another 250-kilometer, $1.5 billion land pipeline will go from Brownsville, Texas, and link up with the underwater project.

Companies for the projects, which includes power stations and electricity transmission facilities, will be chosen in an auction.

Mexico has passed a sweeping energy reform that opened the country's oil, gas and electricity sectors to foreign investments for the first time in decades.