A Man, a Plan, an Expanded Panama Canal—A Boost for LNG, LPG Transport
The long-awaited Panama Canal expansion is expected to be complete and operational in January 2016, more than a year late and just in time to allow much larger liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers to move product from Sabine Pass through the canal to Asian and Latin American customers. The canal’s ability to handle larger ships with “New Panamax” dimensions also will make transporting growing U.S. liquid petroleum gas (LPG) exports more efficient and less costly. And the canal expansion may make shipments of crude from Gulf Coast ports to West Coast refineries cost-competitive (but that’s not a sure thing). In today’s blog, we discuss the latest on the canal expansion and what it means to U.S. and global energy markets.