American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2020 - 67

Legislative Issues
The Texas Legislature will meet again
Jan. 12, but Paylor notes that the pandemic
has delayed many of the scheduled interim
hearings and charges.
"Obviously, the Texas budget will be a
substantial issue when legislators open
the session," he says. "The governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House
already have asked state agencies to look
at 5% cuts in their budgets for the current
year and into 2021. I expect that requested
number to rise to perhaps 10%, maybe a
little more than that in the next session.
They also have asked agencies to hold
back on hiring for unfilled positions and
to be cautious on spending for things that
are not absolutely prudent and necessary."
Paylor adds he expects the 2021 legislative session to be a lot like 2011, where
the state was facing a budget shortfall. Another major challenge next year will be redistricting, he says, calling it "a big issue
that takes a lot of oxygen out of the room."
If any interim hearings take place this

summer, Paylor predicts infrastructure
and energy issues will be major concerns.
"You are going to see water recycling
and reuse as another issue that the state
needs to address," he describes. "For the
past three sessions, there have been big
fights about eminent domain and finding
a happy medium between landowner
groups and industry groups. It is not necessarily only oil and gas; it brings in railroads, utilities and other industries."
Garcia reflects that TIPRO's involvement in the legislative process will focus
on ensuring that regulations and legislation
affecting the Texas energy industry en-

courage continued growth.
"There is a lot of discussion of what
this pandemic has meant to our school
systems and municipalities, and fortunately
the state has its Rainy Day Fund to help
it out," he assesses. "A large part of that
is funded through oil and gas severance
taxes, and so we need to make sure that
that pipeline of security for our state is
viable, not only for right now, where I
expect we as a state will have to use it,
but into the future. From a regulatory
and legislative standpoint, TIPRO wants
to make sure we do not do anything to
deprive our state of that benefit."
r

Mirage Receives Funding
For Cross-Border Pipeline
SAN ANTONIO-Mirage Energy
Corp./Northern Hemisphere Logistics Inc.
announces it has signed a $4 billion debt
facility with Bluebell International LLC's
family offices to develop natural gas
pipelines, underground natural gas storage
and the Isthmus Corridor project.
These pipelines include a 42-inch crossborder pipeline Mirage says will offer an
inexpensive way to move U.S. gas to
Mexico. The pipeline will be built from
Agua Dulce/Banquette Hub to Progresso
then into Mexico. From there, natural gas
can be stored underground once storage
is developed or sent to Station No. 19 on
the Sistrangas system, with a 42-inch line
going on to Los Ramones and an interconnect to the San Fernando/Cactus line
that can take the gas all the way to Nuevo
Pemex on the Yucatan Peninsula.
The storage hub associated with this
project will be Mexico's first underground
natural gas storage facility, Mirage notes.
When fully developed, Mirage says it
will be the largest storage facility on the
North American continent with a capacity
of 786 billion cubic feet of natural gas,
six months' supply for Mexico.
The debt facility also supports the
Isthmus Corridor, which consists of
pipelines and storage facilities in Mexico
connecting the Port of Pajaritos on the
Gulf of Mexico side to Salina Cruz on
the Pacific side. According to Mirage,
the corridor will provide a faster, more
economic means of transport.
r

JULY 2020 67

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