When the Panama Canal was expanded, it drew a lot of enthusiasm, with many seeing U.S. oil and gas exports surging thanks to the wider waterway that cuts the journey to several key markets by between 15 and 30 days, therefore cutting the costs of this journey as well. Besides the shorter journey times for tankers and LNG carriers, the wider Panama Canal could handle larger vessels such as the Neopanamax class, which is widely used for shipping LNG globally, and Aframax crude tankers. Yet not all is bliss. Forbes’ oil correspondent Gaurav Sharma wrote in a recent story that although LNG carriers passing through the expanded Panama Canal have increased significantly in numbers, they are still below what the canal can handle on a daily basis: 12 Neopanamaxes. Right now, the average daily transit of this size of vessel is five. What’s more, not all five carry LNG. […]