In February of last year, the tanker Catalunya Spirit berthed next to a power plant on Puerto Rico’s southern coast and began discharging its cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG). That’s not unusual. LNG tankers regularly arrive in Puerto Rico to provide the natural gas used to generate over 40 percent of the territory’s electricity. What is unusual, however, is where the Catalunya Spirit’s cargo originated: Russia. The same month that tensions were ratcheting up with Moscow over its aggression toward Ukraine—culminating with its February 24th invasion—Puerto Rico was importing $29 million worth of Russian gas.
Leaving geopolitical optics aside, the sourcing decision appears puzzling from both a geographic and efficiency perspective. Why would the island import natural gas that originated in distant Russia rather than the much closer U.S. mainland—one of the world’s top exporters of LNG?
A large part of the answer almost certainly lies in U.S. maritime protectionism.
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