Panama

What had looked like a routine trip to Panama for U.S. Treasury’s David Malpass, undersecretary for International Affairs, has unexpectedly pitched him into the frontline of trade tensions between the United States and China against a backdrop of Lower 48 liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Central America.

Note: This is the second in a three-part NGI series titled “Navigating the Nascent LNG Market Through A Choppy World Trade Sea,” which explores the emerging global liquefied natural gas market and the challenges it poses to buyers and sellers seeking to capitalize on the worldwide expansions underway.

The advance guard of the natural gas revolution in Central America is in place, led by AES Panama SRL and Engie SA in Panama with El Salvador’s Energia del Pacifico Ltda de CV (EDP) waiting in the wings.

The advance guard of the natural gas revolution in Central America is in place, led by AES Panama SRL and Engie SA in Panama with El Salvador’s Energia del Pacifico Ltda de CV (EDP) waiting in the wings.

Natural gas has never made much of a mark in Central America, but in September the fuel will open a new frontier when a combined-cycle generation plant comes onstream, officials of AES Corp.’s AES Panama told NGI.

Mexico’s energy reforms, in combination with the expansion of the Panama Canal, have reconfigured the fortunes for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), according to an analysis by IHS Markit.

A proposed revision of tolls by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) would raise rates charged for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) carrier transits while lowering rates for some container ship transits.

With the expansion of the Panama Canal complete, liquefied natural gas (LNG) leaving the Gulf Coast has a shorter and less costly route to Asian and South American markets.

When the third set of locks at the Panama Canal opens for business Sunday, it will mark the historic widening of the canal and improve the economics of shipping petroleum and other products. U.S. propane exports will see the greatest benefit, at least for now, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).