A new deal will increase amount of liquefied natural gas delivered to Puerto Rico in face of outages

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A new partnership between U.S. maritime company Crowley and Spain-based Naturgy Energy Group announced Tuesday is expected to increase the amount of liquified natural gas shipped to Puerto Rico as it struggles with chronic power outages.

A tanker capable of delivering more than 34 million gallons (129 million liters) of liquified natural gas is scheduled to make its first trip to the U.S. territory this month as part of a multi-year deal between the two companies. Details of the partnership were not disclosed.

It is the first domestic tanker to deliver liquefied natural gas sourced in the U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico. It is expected to travel to the island every two weeks.

Gov. Jenniffer González said the tanker “marks a significant step for fuel supply reliability in Puerto Rico for our energy grid.”

Currently, container ships deliver smaller amounts of liquefied natural gas to Puerto Rico.