Empresa Tomza Guatemala S.A. reported that in Nicaragua the government of President Daniel Ortega illegally expropriated and confiscated the company's assets, which together amount to $4 million in investments.
The expropriation process took several years. Tomza executives explained that in 2015 they were granted the permits for the construction of a property located in the municipality of Tipitapa, department of Managua.
Colon LNG Marketing (a subsidiary of AES Colón) and Tropigas Natural, S.A. (part of the Tropigas group) signed the first contract to supply Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) through the modality of loading by tanker truck for the markets of Panama and Costa Rica.
Elcapitalfinanciero.com reports that "... The agreement allows the use of a clean fossil fuel to provide energy solutions to all types of industry such as food, beverage, manufacturing in general, as well as energy producers, shops, land and sea transport, and the hotel industry."
In order for a club soda or a restaurant in Costa Rica to obtain permission to use liquefied petroleum gas, the business must comply with the regulations that have been in effect since September and must then submit to the scrutiny of a certified specialist.
The 133 requirements to be met by restaurants and club soda are contained in the "General Regulations for the Regulation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Supply."
The company AES Panama launched its liquefied natural gas storage system in the province of Colon, from where it plans to supply the entire Central American region.
This liquefied natural gas (LNG) distribution system will supply the 381 MW thermal plant located on site, also owned by AES, which began operating in August 2018.
Businessmen in the industrial sector are warning that "expanding the reach of the RECOPE and authorizing it to charge fuel rates is like giving them a blank check on which to write the numbers they want to spend."
Industriales gave reasons for their opposition to the draft Fuels Law, that are related to the law, cost, technical reasons and the country's competitiveness, in a note sent to the Environment Commission of the Legislative Assembly.
AES and Engie have agreed to create a joint venture to market and sell liquefied natural gas to third parties in Central America.
The new company will use infrastructure of the Costa Norte LNG Terminal, which is currently under construction in Colón, Panama, owned 50/50 by AES and Inversiones Bahia.
The total capacity of Costa Norte LNG Terminal is approximately 1.5 million metric tons per year (mtpa), of which 25% will go to AES Colón's 380 MW combined cycle plant (CCGT), currently under construction at the same site.
The decision of the I Chamber to annul the judgment that prevented the signing of contracts without environmental studies has refloated the possibility of the contract with the American Mallon Oil Company being valid.
In the year 2000 the government of Costa Rica signed with US oil company Mallon Oil Company a contract to explore and develop natural gas and oil in six blocks of territory without the prior existence of an environmental impact study, an exception allowed by decree 26,750 of 1998.
Industrialists in Costa Rica are opposed to the appeal lodged by deputies against the presidential decree that prevented the rise of 72% in the price of LP gas and 35% in bunker fuel.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica:
The Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica said that nullifying the presidential decree on Sector Policy, as several Deputies want to do, will affect employment.Last week, deputy Luis Alberto Vasquez Castro and other lawmakers presented an appeal to the Constitutional Court against the decree by President Luis Guillermo Solis of January, a decree that prevented the ARESEP from changing the methodology of fuel prices.This presidential decree, put an end to the disproportionate increase in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), 72%, and bunker fuel, 35%, which are key materials for the industrial sector.
The International Finance Corporation will provide $150 million for the construction of a project to construct an electricity generation plant based on natural gas in the province of Colón.
This new loan is in addition to the syndicated loan in which Banistmo, Bancolombia, Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica Banco General and Global Bank, announced in May 2016.
The new canal enlarges the volume of ships that transit through it, as well as the opportunities for growth in a country whose economy was already booming.
EDITORIAL
As Jorge Quijano, chief executive of the Panama Canal Authority notes, the new Canal will open up new global trade routes.This is particularly true for cargo which goes through ports in the eastern United States, including those on the Gulf Coast.The opportunity is clear for the transport of liquefied natural gas(LNG), which the United States produces in abundance. According to Martin Houston, co - founder of Tellurian, developer of LNG projects, so far only 7% of tankers carrying LNG to Asia pass through the Panama Canal, a figure that will rise to 80% with the expanded Canal.The reason is clear:"A tanker loaded with liquefied natural gas in the US Gulf Coast and destined for Asian markets could shorten its travel distance by about 5,000 nautical miles."
The 380 MW natural gas plant to be built by AES in Panama promises to change the country's energy matrix, and the way energy is generated and distributed in Central America.
The economic flow that has already started with the construction of the gas plant in the province of Colon will be felt not only in the energy sector in Panama, which could become an energy generating and distribution hub in the region, but also in other productive sectors that will benefit from greater stability in energy costs and generate greater dynamism in logistics and shipping.
Like the entire private sector, the Association of Free Zones of Costa Rica is complaining about the high cost of electricity and lack of concrete actions to resolve the situation.
Before considering Petrocaribe, companies operating under this regime in Costa Rica are suggesting a further diversification of the energy matrix in order to lower costs.
Energy EPM which already has a presence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama, has reaffirmed its interest in the region with the opening of another branch.
From a statement issued by EPM Group:
The Board of EPM authorized at its meeting on Tuesday the establishment of a branch of its organization in Costa Rica as part of an internationalization strategy that seeks to explore new business opportunities in the neighboring country, listed as one of EPM's target markets.
Private sector leaders have asked President Evo Morales to start negotiations for the import of gas at a cost of $500 thousand per year.
The Chairman of the Bolivian State Power Corporation, YPFB, along with the Ministry of Hydrocarbons would be responsible for negotiating supply to the Central American country, according to statements by the nation's President Evo Morales.