23:16 - 20.07.2026

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July 20, Fineko/abc.az. The Panamanian government is consolidating 100% of the shares in Petroterminal de Panamá into state ownership by exercising a call option provided under a 1977 contract to buy out the remaining 41% stake held by US-based NIC Holding Corp.

The company operates a 131-kilometer pipeline connecting Atlantic and Pacific terminals, serving as a critical trans-isthmian alternative to the Panama Canal. The facility holds strategic importance for the nation's energy and logistics sectors.

The transaction will be funded directly through Petroterminal’s own resources, incurring no burden on the public budget or increase in national debt. Authorities emphasized that the move does not constitute nationalization, but rather the execution of a pre-existing contractual buyback right.