Two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the world’s largest superyachts quietly moored at the Port of Ponce, Puerto Rico. EU economic sanctions froze the Russian owner’s assets, cutting off funds that could support Russia’s war effort and halting payments to Le Grand Bleu’s crew. In hindsight, the coincidental presence of a sanctioned Russian oligarch’s yacht in Playa de Ponce was a portent of Puerto Rico’s new energy politics.
Caption: Le Grand Bleu at Ponce Harbor, video credit Ship.spotter.pr, June 15, 2025 on Instagram.
This blog builds on a previous discursive analysis that used settler-colonial theory to examine how economic policies and port development justified displacing communities in Playa de Ponce. Here, the focus shifts to the contemporary geopolitical forces that threaten to entangle Playa de Ponce in global energy supply structures.
From Portent to Policy: What the LNG Lease at the Port of Ponce Reveals
In March 2025, a local investigative journalist exposed New Fortress Energy’s intention to lease four acres and a pier from the Port of Ponce for activities related to liquified natural gas (LNG) imports, storage and distribution. The incoming LNG, really methane, would be transferred on the open water from tankers via flexible hoses to a ship that would be “semi-permanently” moored along with three floating barges for 25 years under the lease with the Port. The liquified methane could then be transferred to 45-foot towable tanks for distribution across the island (“rolling methane bombs,” in the parlance of environmental justice activists).
Caption: Left: an example of an “LNG Carrier” used to supply Puerto Rico. Right: an ISO Container used to transport liquid methane on roads and highways. Source: Crowley.
The scope of the agreement was sweeping. It formalized the Bay of Ponce as a node in a larger infrastructure of hydrocarbon fuel logistics. It made the port not just a site of hydrocolonialism, but a visceral threat to nearby communities. Under reduced public scrutiny, the port was to facilitate the storage and transportation of volatile cargo, just 500 meters from people’s front doors.
In April 2025, Ponce’s Mayor cancelled the contract on the grounds that it lacked proper board approval. However, LNG ISO containers are still being stored at and transported from the Port of Ponce, justifying calls for ongoing scrutiny of enabling governance and permitting frameworks.
Drawing on the findings of my recent research brief, the next section of this blog examines how the LNG industry eco-spins public discourse. It also demonstrates how territorial and federal agencies are now aligned to weaken or bypass environmental regulations.
In researching LNG, I noted how the LNG industry and proponents use language that obscures understanding, thereby greenwashing the public into believing that LNG is both safe and good for the planet. The table below provides some clarity.
| Industry Term | Real-world meaning |
| Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) | Highly concentrated fracked methane gas frozen to -162 °C, transforming it to liquid and thus reducing its volume by 600% for more efficient transport. Failure at any point in LNG’s transport can result in catastrophic explosions or, in the case of a vapor cloud, death by asphyxiation (Greenpeace, 2024, p. 8). |
| Renewable | LNG (methane) is not renewable energy. It is a hydrocarbon fuel, at best a transitional fuel towards net-zero carbon emissions. Mitigating methane releases is a critical short-term strategy for slowing global warming (EC Joint Research Centre, 2024). |
| Liquified Natural Gas Carrier | A ship with specialized refrigeration for transporting and storing LNG (Energy Education, n.d.) |
| Storage barge | A barge with specialized refrigeration and safety valves for storing LNG (Fincantieri Marine Group, n.d.) |
| Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer | Frozen methane moved from one ship to another in open water through a flexible cargo hose. The operations are subject to human error and mechanical failure (Choi et al, 2025). |
| ISO Container | A standardized, stackable refrigerated tanks that can be shipped in mass, or hitched to a trailer and truck for localized transport. If compromised by a fire, a mechanical failure, or a highway accident, a catastrophic explosion can occur. |
Both federal and territorial governments are now LNG boosters, reducing friction that might otherwise slow LNG intensification. For example, the EPA is now aligned with expanding LNG under the banner of “Powering the Great American Comeback.” Leaning into “cooperative federalism,” the EPA intends to collaborate with states and territories to fast-track energy project permits. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Coast Guard have shifted policies and procedures in ways intended to facilitate LNG expansion (DOT, n.d.) while minimizing public oversight (Earth Justice, 2025). The Puerto Rico government, under pressure to stabilize the island’s electric grid and attract private investment, is accelerating fossil fuel infrastructure despite public policy commitments to renewable energy (Act 1-2025; EO 2025-0016).
Puerto Rico, once a colonial outpost of sugar and coffee, is now positioned as an energy market. The scuttled LNG imports and distribution contract between the local Port Authority and a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy is a harbinger of future geopolitical entanglements and environmental injustices. This time, it’s the energy interests behind the increased hydrocolonial extraction and control. No public input. No environmental review. No accountability.
For decades, the Port of Ponce was pitched as a beacon of economic renewal. But that vision never materialized for residents of Barrio Playa. Given the speed and scale of LNG proposals, coastal communities like La Playa have every reason to stay vigilant. What began as the silent arrival of a sanctioned oligarch’s superyacht has morphed into a flashpoint over “rolling methane bombs” at our doorstep.
