Panama Canal expansion would boost transit of oil, gas exports

Expansion of the Panama Canal would open up passage for up to 80 percent of global exports of natural gas, according to a federal stat shop.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that work to expand the passageway, which could be finished by late 2015, is an “important route” connecting the Pacific Ocean to Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

{mosads}Right now, however, the canal plays a limited role, the stat shop said, in moving global crude oil shipments.

When the expansion is finished, EIA said, larger vessels able to carry far more barrels of crude oil, would be able to transit the Panama Canal.

The expansion comes as talks in the U.S. are increasing on whether to allow crude oil exports and lift a decades-old ban.