The Port of Corpus Christi (POCC) – the most dominant crude oil export port in the United States, responsible for more than 50% of export volumes out of the Gulf Coast (as discussed in our Crude Voyager Report) - recently announced that its $625 million expansion project has been successfully completed. The ‘Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project’ (CCSCIP) has been in the works for over three decades, with construction beginning in 2017. The project focused on deepening the ship channel from 47’ to 54’ MLLW (mean lower low water – the average height of the lowest daily tides during a 19-year period) and widening the channel from 400’ to 530’ to enhance navigational infrastructure.
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Deeper and Deeper, Encore Edition - Corpus Christi Channel Dredging Is Poised to Boost Oil Export Economics
A long-planned ship-channel deepening and widening project in Corpus Christi Bay is in its last innings and is about to start having a real impact. Later this summer, a 7-foot-deeper channel at Ingleside will enable terminals there to load additional barrels into VLCCs, assuming they’ve dredged their berths to match the deeper channel. Deepening the channel to 54 feet (from the old 47 feet) also will enable terminals that have deepened their berths to fully load 1-MMbbl Suezmaxes, up from the 800-850 Mbbl that can be loaded now. Crude oil export economics in South Texas will get another boost in late 2024 when the fourth and final portion of the $680 million dredging project is completed. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the dredging project, its steady progress, and its impact on the “battle for barrels” among Corpus, the Houston area and a quartet of proposed offshore terminals.
- Blog
Deeper and Deeper - Corpus Christi Channel Dredging Is Poised to Boost Oil Export Economics
A long-planned ship-channel deepening and widening project in Corpus Christi Bay is in its last innings and is about to start having a real impact. Later this summer, a 7-foot-deeper channel at Ingleside will enable terminals there to load additional barrels into VLCCs, assuming they’ve dredged their berths to match the deeper channel. Deepening the channel to 54 feet (from the old 47 feet) also will enable terminals that have deepened their berths to fully load 1-MMbbl Suezmaxes, up from the 800-850 Mbbl that can be loaded now. Crude oil export economics in South Texas will get another boost in late 2024 when the fourth and final portion of the $680 million dredging project is completed. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the dredging project, its steady progress, and its impact on the “battle for barrels” among Corpus, the Houston area and a quartet of proposed offshore terminals.
- Blog
Rolling in the Deep - Corpus Christi Dredging Projects Create New Opportunities for Crude Oil Exporters
The 35-year dream of widening the Corpus Christi Ship Channel and deepening it to 54 feet from the old 47 feet is at long last a reality. The $625 million project also has spurred marine-terminal owners in Corpus Christi and Ingleside to undertake — or at least consider — major dock and dredging projects that would enable them to make full use of the deeper 30-mile channel. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the newly completed channel-dredging project, related terminal improvements, and what they all mean for crude oil exporting economics in Corpus Christi.
Comments
I think that RBN had previously reported that the Gibson and Enbridge facilities could partially load a VLCC to 2/3rds full prior to the completion of the dredging project. Do you have any insight as to whether this impacts this 2/3rds number? Is it higher now? Thanks for your insight.
In reply to Loading capability by Howie Thomas
Hi Howie,
Great question. VLCCs have been able to partially load out of both Enbridge Ingleside (EIEC) and South Texas Gateway (STG) for some time now. However, EIEC has been loading around 150 Mbbl more onto VLCCs than STG because EIEC has already been operating at a depth of 54' for a couple of years, while STG was just recently deepened to 54' in the last couple of months as part of the expansion completion.
Therefore, we expect to see an increase in volumes loading onto VLCCs out of STG (to bring it more in line with EIEC volumes), but we expect volumes loaded onto VLCC volumes out of EIEC to remain the same. A fully laden VLCC typically requires a channel depth of around 75', so VLCCs out of both terminals will still be able to partially load up to around 2/3 full.