Infrastructure in Focus: Port of Corpus Christi Poised to Lead America’s Energy Export Boom
The Port of Corpus Christi on the Texas Gulf Coast lies at the heart of the U.S. energy export boom and as crude oil production from the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin has increased, the volume of crude oil loaded at the port has grown. In 2017, approximately 570,000 b/d of crude oil was loaded onto tankers and barges in the Port of Corpus Christi. 17 Of this volume, 290,000 b/d were exported to foreign markets, accounting for approximately 25 percent of total U.S. crude oil exports. 18 With $5 billion in new pipelines under construction to bring as much as 2 million b/d of additional crude oil from the Permian Basin to Corpus Christi terminals, outbound shipments from the port are poised to take off over the next few years. 19 Outbound shipments of NGLs and petrochemicals are also expected to continue growing, with an $18 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project expected to enter service in 2018. These projects will further increase traffic at the port, which is already the fourth largest in the United States by tonnage. Accommodating these surging volumes will require significant investments in publicly and privately owned port facilities, including a major project to widen the Corpus Christi Ship Channel and deepen it from 45 feet to 54 feet. The project, when complete, will allow larger ships to load at the port, reducing transportation costs and increasing the competitiveness of U.S. exports on the global market – an opportunity that is underscored by the recent expansion of the Panama Canal and the increasing availability of supertankers. The Port of Corpus Christi estimates that the project would enable an incremental $36 billion in annual energy exports from the port, or one-tenth of the current trade deficit with China. 20
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