In the race to build the next deepwater crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, Sentinel Midstream’s proposed Texas GulfLink (TGL) is currently in second place in the regulatory race, behind only Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) — and seems to be emerging as a serious contender. The plan offers some compelling attributes, including Sentinel’s status as an independent midstream player and plenty of pipeline access to crude oil volumes in the Permian and elsewhere. In today’s RBN blog, we turn our attention to TGL and what it brings to the table.
Canadian crude output is rising, requiring new export routes. As traditional pathways face constraints, the U.S. Rockies—especially the Guernsey, WY hub—are emerging as key corridors for moving Canadian heavy crude to downstream markets, including the Gulf Coast.
This series has focused on the plans to build one or more deepwater crude oil export terminals as well as their inner workings. Part 1 made the case for constructing at least one of the four projects now under development. As we’ve blogged about often (see May Exports Be With You), U.S. crude export volumes took off in the 2010s and are expected to continue growing along with production throughout the 2020s, driving the market to seek the most efficient export options. The projects under development offer a number of potential benefits to shippers and customers alike. But given all the potential upside of the deepwater projects, why hasn’t anyone fully committed to building one by making a final investment decision (FID)? We focused on those challenges in Part 2. The biggest may be price, as these projects are expensive and are likely to require significant term commitments to proceed, which is likely to limit the pool of potential customers to a select number of companies. The other major obstacle is the regulatory process, which can stretch for years. That’s where SPOT (striped green diamond in Figure 1 below), the focus of Part 3, has a significant leg up on its competition: Sentinel’s Texas GulfLink project (striped yellow diamond), Energy Transfer’s Blue Marlin project (striped dark-blue diamond), and Phillps 66 and Trafigura’s Bluewater project (striped light-blue diamond). SPOT received its deepwater port license on April 9. With the license in hand, it enables Enterprise to move forward to the next step in developing the offshore terminal.
Figure 1. Proposed U.S. Gulf Coast Offshore Terminals. Source: RBN
This is not the first time we’ve talked about the TGL project (see Catch a Wave), but let’s refresh our memory and start with the basics. TGL is planned for deepwater a little over 30 nautical miles off the coast of Freeport, TX, similar to SPOT. According to Sentinel’s application submitted to the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the port is designed to be capable of loading crude onto a Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) at a rate of up to 85 Mbbl per hour, equivalent to about 2 MMb/d.
Join Backstage Pass to Read Full Article
About the song
“Dark Horse” was written by Katy Perry, Jordan Houston, Lukasz Gottwald, Sarah Hudson, Max Martin and Henry Walker. It appears as the sixth cut on Katy Perry’s fourth studio album, Prism. Released as the third official single from the album in December 2013, “Dark Horse” (featuring Juicy J) went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance Club Songs Singles charts. It was recorded in 2013 at Playback Recording Studios in Santa Barbara, CA; MXM Studios in Stockholm, Sweden; Luke’s in the Boo in Malibu, CA; and Secret Garden Studios in Montecito, CA. It was produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut. The video for the song, directed by Mathew Cullen, won Best Female Video at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. The song has been certified 11x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was the second-bestselling song worldwide in 2014. Personnel on the record were: Katy Perry (lead, backing vocals), Juicy J (featured rapper, backing vocals), Dr. Luke (programming), Max Martin (programming), and Cirkut (programming).
Prism was a prominently dance-oriented record for Katy Perry. Produced by Katy Perry, Klas Ahlund, Benny Blanco, Bloodshy, Cirkut, Dr. Luke, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Stargate and Greg Wells, the album was released in October 2013. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, and it has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 57th annual Grammy Awards. Five singles were released from the LP.
Katy Perry (Kathryn Elizabeth Hudson) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, television talent show judge and actress. She has released six studio albums, one live album, one compilation album, six EPs, and 39 singles. She has sold more than 143 million records worldwide. In September 2023, she sold her music rights to Litmus Music for an estimated $225 million. She has appeared in eight films and documentaries. She has won five American Music Awards, 11 ASCAP Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, 10 BMI Awards, one Brit Award, and four MTV Video Music Awards. Perry continues to record and perform, with her next scheduled performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro in September.
