Is proposed Panama LPG pipeline a ‘solution in search of a problem’?
- US LPG exports continue to rise but neopanamax canal locks have capacity limits and transits are increasingly weighted towards containerships
- Panama Canal Authority believes pipeline will allow US exporters to reduce forward vessel requirements and hedge against future droughts
- Sceptics argue that the economics of the project will be difficult and customers prefer to keep cargo on a single vessel between origin and destination
Panama Canal Authority administrator Ricaurte Vasquez maintains that an LPG pipeline across the isthmus will allow US exporters to avert the longer Cape of Good route after US propane production outpaces neopanamax locks capacity
