The Panama Canal Authority is aiming to lure back lost energy trade with changes to its booking system for LNG canal transits, and with a new LNG pipeline project offering energy and tanker companies an alternative to move the commodity across the critical global shipping gateway.

Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, tells CNBC that the canal is moving closer to reinstating a preferred booking slot system for LNG carriers as a way to bring back more of the business. LNG prebooking was removed during drought years and has not returned to date.

"We most likely will reinstate that window of reservations for LNG vessels effective next year," Vásquez tells CNBC. The Panama Canal has moved to a long-term slot allocation approach, a booking system that allowed for a

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