US companies keen to expand Portugal's Sines port.

American companies have a strong interest in expanding Portugal's deepwater port of Sines due to its strategic position for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said. Portugal launched an international tender in October for a contract to build and operate a new container terminal in Sines, continental Europe's closest port to the Panama Canal. It expects to pick the winner in the last quarter of this year. Simultaneously, Singapore's PSA, which operates the only existing container terminal in the port, is also in the process of increasing its capacity.

The planned overall expansion will be crucial to also increase the port's capacity to receive larger ships and more LNG cargoes from abroad for further shipments to Europe. Portuguese...