The beginnings of Petroterminal de Panamá (PTP) date back to the late 1970s, when Alaskan oil production began with large volumes and there was a need to transport the surplus to the East Coast of the United States of America, using “Very Large Crude Carrier” (VLCC) tanker ship, which due to their size could not transit through the Panama Canal.
In September 1977, brothers Harold and Raymond Bernstein proposed to the Panamanian Government the construction of facilities for the handling and storage of oil in Charco Azul Bay, near the community of Puerto Armuelles located on the Pacific Coast, so that the smaller ships could cross the Panama Canal. The Government of Panama accepted the offer, aware that this represented an investment for the country and the generation of jobs during the construction and operation of the facilities.
While the construction of the Pacific Terminal was underway, PTP began its operations in the Bay of Parita using two very large crude carriers (VLCC’s) which were the MT British Renown and the MT British Resolution. The first VLCC to reach Parita Bay was the MT New York, 264,000 DWT, discharging approximately 1,800,000 crude barrels.
On April 10th, 1979, transshipment operations began in the newly built port of Charco Azul, responding quickly to the long-term transportation needs of customers. In 1980, PTP reached a new agreement with the Panamanian government which authorized the construction of an oil pipeline that would cross the isthmus and a Terminal for the handling and storage of oil located on the Atlantic Coast, specifically in the Chiriquí Lagoon.
With this new project, PTP promoted the economic development of the of the western part of the country, directly benefiting the twelve municipalities through which the Pipeline crosses and the Central Government due to the dividends and royalties that would be generated from the operations of both terminals and the pipeline.
From 1982 to 1996, more than 2.7 billion barrels of crude oil were transported from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of the Republic of Panama and later to the East Coast of the United States, coming from the ANS (Alaskan North Slope) petroliferous fields in Alaska.
After the US government authorized the export of crude from Alaska North Slope (ANS) in 1996, the pipeline stopped operations. During the period from 1996 to 2003, PTP maintained operations at the terminals while the pipeline was subjected to a rigorous inspection and maintenance program. During these years, PTP was also carrying out operations of handling and exporting shipping containers with fruits (bananas) to Europe, through the General Cargo dock located in the Atlantic Terminal.
In 2003, due to agreements reached with new customers, the pipeline operations were reactivated. Due to the global trend in the crude oil market, in 2008, PTP started Phase I of the project to reverse the pipeline flow and expansion of the storage capacity in the terminals (5 additional tanks), which was culminated in mid-2010. Phase II of the storage facility expansion project (10 additional tanks) were completed in early 2012.