Back to overview Home Fossil Energy Arbitration tribunal set up in dispute over revoked gas-to-power and LNG terminal permits Arbitration tribunal set up in dispute over revoked gas-to-power and LNG terminal permits Authorities & Government June 24, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic Share this article Sinolam International, a Singapore-based investment company focused on oil, gas, and power investments in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, has confirmed the formation of an independent tribunal in an arbitration case related to the cancelation of permits for a gas-to-power development in Panama, spurring concerns over regulatory risk in the Latin American energy markets, the future of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-to-power infrastructure, and the impact of investment disputes on cross-border energy capital. Illustration; Courtesy of AES Panama The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has officially constituted its tribunal in Sinolam International versus Republic of Panama (Case No. ARB/26/12), a move said to mark a pivotal step in the arbitration process regarding the revocation of permits for a gas-to-power development in Panama, a 441 MW power generation project and LNG terminal in Colón. The three-member panel, chaired by Anglo-Spanish arbitrator Joseph Tirado , alongside Spanish experts Antolín Fernández Antuña and Lluís Paradell Trius , will now hear claims that Panama’s 2024 cancelation of Sinolam’s energy license amounted to unlawful expropriation under the Panama-Singapore free trade agreement (FTA). “The naming of the panel acknowledges the validity of Sinolam’s claim. It signals the 2024 revocation of the company’s energy license is worthy of a formal international treaty dispute review into the merits of the allegation the cancelation was an unlawful asset expropriation rather than a routine regulatory decision,” emphasized the firm. A U.S. Federal District Court in Virginia remanded its  lawsuit  again