Exports U.S. LNG stand to benefit from $5.4 Billion expansion of Panama Cana…much shorter travel time and lower cost shipments…Gulf Coast to big markets in Asia and South America.. ..Wider and deeper navigation channels and larger locks mean the canal can accommodate 90% of world’s LNG tankers…Before facilities opened last week, the canal could handle only much smaller ships, which combined account for just 6% of the global LNG fleet…canal improvements cut travel time from U.S. Gulf Coast, to Japan to 20 days, compared with 34 days for voyages around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope or 31 days for ships using the Suez Canal. Similar time savings for ships using Panama Canal to reach China, South Korea and Taiwan, 4 countries accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global LNG market.

USA is on its way to becoming world’s 3rd largest LNG producer by 2020, after Australia and Qatar.

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