Mexico’s COFECE Fines Natural Gas Producers For Abuse Of Dominance

Mexican competition watchdog COFECE has warned of risks to competition in the market for domestic-use natural gas derived from the strategy established by the Ministry of Energy.

The strategy unduly conditions the non-discriminatory open access of the pipeline system operated by the National Center of Natural Gas Control (Cenagas, per its acronym in Spanish), artificially strengthens the position of the State-owned Productive Companies and displaces sellers.

The Ministry of Energy’s plans, COFECE has said, could cause disruptions in the natural gas supply chain, which could result in price increases and a possible supply issues of this important energy source.

Read More: Mexico’s COFECE Probes Possible Monopoly In Electric Sector

The COFECE has recently found itself in a number of conflicts with the Mexican government as it pursues changes to several commercial and industrial policies, particularly in the energy sector. This latest confrontation follows COFECE’s criticism of the government’s energy and oil policies, which critics claim would harm competition in an attempt to favor state-owned and national companies.

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