Shell Confirms Panama LNG Deal

Shell confirmed September 21 it has agreed to supply a Chinese firm's power plant venture in Panama but declined to elaborate further.

Shell LNG Marketing and Trading vice president Slavko Preocanin said: "We are pleased to have signed this agreement to supply LNG to support the power needs of Panama. LNG has an important role to play in creating cleaner energy solutions across Panama's energy matrix from large scale projects like wholesale power to small scale projects like LNG bunkering. We look forward to working with Sinolam LNG".

Reuters news agency, citing an adviser to the Panama venture, reported September 20 that the $900mn, 441 MW power project being built by Sinolam LNG at Colon in Panama expects to begin receiving deliveries in 2020 from Shell under a 15-year 0.4mn mt/yr deal; Sinolam LNG, a subsidiary of Chinese investment firm Shanghai Gorgeous, would also build its floating LNG receiving terminal there.  

Panama's first LNG/power venture, built by US-based AES with Panamanian partner Inversiones Bahia, imported its first LNG cargo in June this year and inaugurated the overall $1.15bn project in August; France's Engie is supplying its LNG cargoes.

That first Central American LNG receiving terminal may be followed, not only by Sinolam at Colon, but also others. Speaking at the Gastech conference this week in Barcelona, Energia del Pacifico said its El Salvador LNG import terminal project is close to taking a final investment decision.