Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday that the government is working to overturn an order from Texas Governor Greg Abbott to cut off gas exports.

On Thursday, Abbott directed natural gas producers to refrain from selling outside Texas until 21 February to divert supplies to power generators inside the state.

According to Reuters, natural gas supplies to Mexico from Texas were already interrupted by the severe cold weather since early this week. It resulted in millions without power in Mexico's industrial northern states, causing an estimated $2.7 billion in losses.

Mexico buys most of the gas produced in Texas, importing it via a network of cross-border pipelines. An Argus report said the order, once fully implemented, would deal a crippling blow to Mexico's industrial sector that relies on the U.S. gas supply. 

It is not clear if Abbott had the authority to order producers to disregard shipments' contracts to other states or Mexico. Apart from the commercial implications, the move could affect the bilateral trade terms in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

"We are working with our diplomats to prevent this from happening. It will not only affect Mexico... It will affect other states in the union," said Lopez Obrador in a New York Times report.

Lopez Obrador noted that the supply problems highlighted Mexico's need to cover more of its energy needs locally. Mexico, the U.S.'s second-largest trade partner, had been able to widely restore electricity distribution since Wednesday by supplying fuel oil to power plants and ordering purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to suppliers even from Texas.

Some energy analysts believed that the massive power outage in northern Mexican estates was also due to poor emergency planning and mismanagement of Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission, also known as the CFE.

"It's no surprise that the Mexican authorities would seize upon this situation to make the case for what they call energy sovereignty," Duncan Wood, senior adviser to the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, D.C., said in an El Paso Times report.

Mexico's national power provider found itself powerless in the past few days and unable to provide electricity to 4.7 million customers, more than a quarter in Juárez and Chihuahua state.

Related story: Mexico's 4.7 Million Power Users Scrambling Without Any Electricity, President Points Finger to U.S.

Mexico's Power Situation

Residents and businesses in the border community were heeding orders from Chihuahua's governor to ration natural gas on Wednesday after the Texas' widespread power outages. Like much of northern Mexico and Texas, Juarez is also experiencing one of the coldest winters in history.

Chihuahua Governor Javier Corral urged citizens to minimize gas consumption as there is a natural gas shortage in Texas, the Dallas News reported.

Corral said the gas that the U.S. has had been reserved for them. He added that the gas supply to more than 100 maquiladoras would be cut off, possibly affecting the supply chain in North America as work in the parts factories slows or stops.

He said that the rationing of supply could last at least until Monday. The current energy crisis in Mexico highlights calls of Lopez Obrador for energy independence, citing the rising amount of natural gas imported from Texas. Officials said that Mexico imports more than 70 percent of its supply from the U.S.

Lopez Obrador said Texas's situation is dire, adding that the U.S. state does not have gas and the supply they have increased a lot in price.

Meanwhile, at least 40 people were reported dead across several states due to the winter weather affecting the central and southern parts of the U.S., according to a The Hill report.

The death toll increased between Wednesday and Thursday, with reports of numerous people dying in Texas due to exposure and one more possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Deaths from cold weather have also been reported in the Houston area. Millions remained without power.

"It appears that a lot of the generation that has gone offline today has been primarily due to issues on the natural gas system," Dan Woodfin, a top official at Texas's state power authority, said in a report.

Read also: Woman, Girl Die From Carbon Monoxide Poisoning After Using Running Car to Stay Warm in Texas Freeze