Marine Docks

By the early 2020s, crude oil flows from the Permian to Corpus Christi are likely to increase by at least several hundred thousand barrels a day and may well rise by more than one million barrels a day. That can only happen, though, if new pipeline capacity is in place to move crude from West Texas to the coast and if enough crude-related infrastructure — storage, distribution pipelines, marine docks, etc. — is developed in Corpus to receive, move and load all that oil. Docks and ship-channel depth are particularly important; the bigger the vessels that Corpus marine terminals can handle, the more competitive Permian crude will be in far-away markets like Asia. Today we continue our series on the build-out of crude infrastructure in South Texas’s largest port and consider Corpus’s ability to load Suezmax-class vessels and maybe even Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).

Although the current narrow price differentials between U.S. domestic crude (including Eagle Ford condensate) and international market prices suggest no flood of exports is likely in the short term, the considerable existing marine dock capacity at Corpus is already capable of shipping out over 750 Mb/d of crude and condensate and is still expanding. That could make Corpus a major center of crude exports going forward. Today we conclude our series with a look at infrastructure in the Ingleside area of Corpus Christi and preview our final Drill Down report for 2015 that provides deeper analysis and commentary on Corpus Christi infrastructure.

In the new world where unencumbered crude exports are permitted, Corpus Christi holds a lot of strong cards as a major hub for shipping crude oil and lease condensate to international markets. Crude and condensate shipments out of Corpus have gone through the roof since 2012 as production in the close-by Eagle Ford soared. Pipelines offer producers direct routes to marine docks that currently ship crude to domestic refineries but could just as easily serve international customers. Today, we continue our look at Corpus’s emerging role as a crude oil/condensate hub with a review of existing and planned storage and marine dock facilities.

Until last week (December 13, 2015), the infrastructure being built to handle crude and condensate in the South Texas Port of Corpus Christi was planned on the assumption that crude exports were restricted to specific locations like Canada and condensate exports required special processing in a stabilization unit. Now that Congress has lifted restrictions on crude exports - the floodgates would appear to be open for surplus Eagle Ford and Permian crude to ship to overseas markets – provided the economics justify such movements (which they don’t at the moment). In the longer term though, exports could be the key to Corpus’ future. Today we continue our look at Corpus’s emerging role as a crude oil/condensate hub in a new world without export regulations.

Corpus Christi has emerged as an important crude refining and distribution market hub for Eagle Ford and Permian Basin crude and lease condensate. Corpus has a lot going for it: it’s close to--and well-connected by pipeline with--the Eagle Ford, it has new and potentially growing connections with Permian; and Corpus and its environs boast considerable crude/condensate storage, refining and processing capacity, as well as one of the nation’s busiest ports. Today we continue our review of Eagle Ford crude/condensate pipelines feeding Corpus including Kinder Morgan, NuStar, Magellan and Harvest pipelines.