LONDON (Bloomberg) — BP will send the first tanker of LNG through the expanded Panama Canal in late July, opening up a new trade route for the heating and power-plant fuel as supplies surge.
The British Merchant will begin its journey in Trinidad & Tobago before heading to the canal for passage to the Pacific Ocean, according to an emailed statement from the Panama Canal Authority on Tuesday. The tanker, which has a capacity of 138,517 cubic meters of gas, is already anchored in the Caribbean, shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The $5.3-billion expansion will allow the waterway to handle the kind of massive tankers that transport LNG for the first time. The shorter trade route between the Atlantic and Pacific will help cut costs after global LNG prices plunged in the past two years because of lower oil prices, rising supply and softening demand. The U.S. became an exporter of LNG produced from shale gas in February with the start of Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana.
“It’s what a lot of folks have been anticipating for a long time,” said Rusty Braziel, president of RBN Energy LLC in Houston. Given current oil prices and economic conditions, shipments through the canal may be limited to volumes contracted to go to Japan and other Asia-Pacific buyers. The longer-term prospects are more promising, he said.
Earlier this month, the Panama Canal Authority estimated that 20 million tons of LNG may pass through annually, which would be equivalent to about 300 ships a year.
BP wasn’t immediately available for comment by phone or email.
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