[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Panama Canal expansion, due to be inaugurated on 26 June, will make US propane exports to markets in Asia simpler, cheaper and more transparent, the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report.
Only a limited number of very large gas carriers (VLGCs) with narrower, more upright hull designs now are able to pass through the current Panama Canal lock dimensions.
Therefore, much of US Gulf Coast propane exports through the canal to customers in Asia involve ship-to-ship transfers, with propane cargo being moved to smaller ships that can transit the canal.
With the expansion, the larger set of Panama Canal locks will allow VLGCs to pass through and avoid ship-to-ship transfers, the EIA said.
At the same time, the trade data for US propane exports to Asia will become much more transparent and accurate.
Much of EIA’s energy export data are based on information from US Customs and Border Protection, which collects the final destination of an export, if known. Despite this requirement, some of the propane cargoes exported from the US that undergo a ship-to-ship transfer cite the jurisdiction of the transfer, not the cargo’s actual final destination.
Thus, US export data show increased propane exports to countries in the Caribbean and Central America where the ship-to-ship transfers are taking place, but these countries do not have sufficient domestic demand for – nor the infrastructure to store and distribute – such large quantities of propane, the EIA said.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
