Enbridge Inc asked U.S. energy regulators for an extension of six months or until April 23 to place its $1.6 billion Valley Crossing natural gas pipeline between Texas and Mexico into service:
* In a filing late last week, Enbridge said it made the request because of delays experienced by the company on the Mexico side of the border with work on its pipeline. * Enbridge is building the 165 mile onshore and offshore pipe in the United States and expects to complete work by the end of October. * An unaffiliated company, Infraestructura Marina del Golfo, S. de R.L. de C.V. (Marina), is building a roughly 500-mile pipeline on the Mexico side of the border. Marina is a joint venture between TransCanada Corp and Sempra Energy's IEnova unit. * Before Enbridge can put its pipe in service, the company said it needs to test its pipe after the pipe on the Mexico side of the border is complete. * The Valley Crossing project is designed to carry up to 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas from Texas to help Mexico meet its growing power needs as generators there shift away from fuel oil and imported liquefied natural gas. * One billion cubic feet is enough to fuel about five million U.S. homes for a day. * The Valley Crossing project has been under construction since April 2017, according to the Enbridge website. * Valley Crossing will connect in the Gulf of Mexico to Marina's so-called Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline. Once complete, it will be the biggest gas pipe between the two countries. * There are already about 20 pipelines that can move gas from the United States to Mexico with a total capacity of around 10.9 bcfd, according to U.S. energy data. * Energy analysts have said, however, that constraints on the Mexican side of the border have so far limited a big increase in U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; editing by Grant McCool)