By Naureen S. Malik

(Bloomberg) — The first cargo of liquefied pure gasoline set to go by the newly expanded Panama Canal locks might be American.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Maran Gas Apollonia vessel is scheduled to go by the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on July 25 after loading LNG from the U.S. Gulf Coast, in line with the Panama Canal Authority, which oversees the locks’ operations. BP Plc’s British Merchant LNG tanker is predicted to change into the second to go by the canal the next day and a 3rd tanker is slated for early August, the company stated in a press release late Monday.

The vessels will change into the primary to make the most of a multibillion-dollar enlargement that widened the canal sufficient to deal with huge LNG tankers. Its opening stands to extend the potential for American shale gasoline exports, which started simply 5 months in the past, by slicing delivery prices and instances from the U.S. to the west coast of Latin America and to Asia.

‘It’s Working’

“The fact that three companies have booked passage means that it’s viable and it’s working more or less the way the canal authority hoped when they set up the tolls,” Jason Feer, head of enterprise intelligence at Houston-based ship dealer Poten & Partners, stated by telephone Monday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those goes to Asia.”

Shell’s tanker was approaching Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana late Monday, delivery knowledge compiled by Bloomberg present. BP’s British Merchant tanker will carry gasoline from Trinidad to an import terminal on Mexico’s west coast, the authority stated.

A Shell spokesman declined to remark, as did a spokeswoman for BP. Cheniere couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. The Panama Canal Authority didn’t instantly have particulars on the vacation spot of Shell’s tanker and didn’t launch additional particulars in regards to the third cargo.

The canal enlargement, which went into service in late June, permits entry to 90 % of the world’s LNG tanker fleet, up from 6 % earlier than, Victoria Zaretskaya, an analyst with the U.S. Energy Information Administration, stated in a July 1 e-mail. The U.S. Gulf Coast could also be sending 35 million to 38 million tons yearly on about 550 tankers by the Panama Canal by 2021, she stated.

© 2016 Bloomberg L.P