The Panama Canal Is Now a Major Problem for U.S. Shale
- A boom in natural-gas exports creates new challenges
- Last-minute schedule changes for LNG tankers headed to Asia
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It seemed at the time like a somewhat random, and amazingly fortuitous, coincidence.
Just as the Panama Canal was unveiling a new, fatter set of locks, U.S. shale drillers were readying their very first exports of liquefied natural gas. While the wide-body tankers that transport LNG would’ve had no chance of squeaking through the original steel locks built a century ago, they could easily traverse the bigger channel and shave 11 days off the trip to primary markets in Asia.