In the first nine months of the year, 2.8 million barrels of marine fuel were sold, 38% more than was sold in the same period in 2016.
According to figures from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), the sale of marine fuel during the first three quarters of 2017 increased by 38% in year-on-year terms, rising from 2 million barrels between January and September 2016 to 2.8 million barrels in the same period in 2017.
In 2016 28.8 million barrels of fuel were sold to ships, which is 3.1 million barrels more than in the previous year.
Figures from the Panama Maritime Authority indicate that most of the bunker fuel was marketed in the Pacific, with 23.8 million barrels, while the remaining 4.9 million barrels were shipped across the Atlantic.
Between January and August 2016, 2.5 million metric tons of marine fuel were sold, 7% more than in the same period in 2015.
The biggest sales growth was recorded in January, with a rise of 17%.Although the increase between 2015 and 2016 is lower than that recorded between 2014 and 2015,"...
Construction has been announced of 9 additional storage tanks and a pier with two berths to supply 2.5 million barrels.
From a statement issued by the National Secretariat of Energy in Panama:
The sale of marine fuel or bunkering, an activity that generates about $900 million a year to the country's economy, will grow with the expanding operations of the Free Zone for Fuels, located in Bahía Las Minas, Colon Province.
The rise in prices and fuel supply problems in markets like Colombia explain the 10% increase in sales of bunker fuel in the first half of the year.
After experiencing a slight decrease in the rate of business growth, companies engaged in the storage and sale of marine or bunker fuel say they feel there is an improvement in the activity. In previous years, vessels transiting the Canal were buying fuel in Colombia and other Caribbean countries.
An electricity project by the ICE in Costa Rica will cause 20 tankers of fuel to be transported daily between Limon and Puntarenas by road.
According to nacion.com, "The fuel will be used to supply the Garabito Electrical Plant which his being built by the ICE at Montes de Oro next to the Inter-American Highway