Expansion of the Panama Canal will enable oil producers to send more product through one of the “main thoroughfares of maritime navigation,” and could lead to lower per-barrel costs, the EIA reported September 17. When the expanded canal opens late next year, it will accommodate maximum tanker capacity of 680,000 barrels of light sweet crude, compared to a current limit of 550,000 barrels. “These larger tankers have the potential to increase crude and petroleum product transport through the canal,” the EIA notes. As well, the canal “will be able to provide passage for up to 80% of global shipping of liquefied natural gas (LNG).”
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