Major US crude loading port Corpus Christi, Texas, has shipped 52.4mn t of oil in the first half of this year, or about 2.2mn b/d, breaking its previous half-year record from the same period last year by 12pc.
Steady US crude production along with reduced US Gulf coast refinery capacity and strong demand for crude globally have supported loading volumes at US ports, most of which are for export to buyers in Europe and Asia.
Corpus Christi loadings account for a large chunk of US crude exports, which reached 3.2mn b/d in the first six months of the year, nearly matching the record high achieved in the first half of 2022, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
Infrastructural improvements are likely to help the port maintain its role as a major US crude loading point.
Following the completion of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, the port will "have the deepest and widest ship channel in the entire US Gulf Coast," said port chief executive Sean Strawbridge.
While crude loadings accounted for the majority of Corpus Christi's shipments in the first half of the year, the port also saw increases for other commodities. Refined products loadings in the first half of the year amounted to 15.8mn t (643,285 b/d), up by 27pc year over year; dry cargo loadings were 3.9mn t, a 21.5pc increase; and LNG shipments were 8.1mn t (2.18 Bcf/d), up by 11pc.
