Corpus Christi has become the export hub of choice for many Permian crude producers, but once that outlet becomes too congested, the market is likely to see more crude go inland to Cushing, Oklahoma.
"The pipelines going to Corpus Christi are pretty close to filling up," said Epic Midstream chief executive Brian Freed in a panel discussion today at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston, Texas. "In my mind, Corpus Christi will fill up."
The overflow from Corpus will go into the Houston market, Freed said, which will overflow in the Nederland, Texas, market, with the "waterfall" leading to pipelines flowing back to Cushing.
Corpus Christi as an export option has been attractive partly because of little blending being done in the area, maintaining a consistent quality for volumes out of the Permian.
As congestion reappears out of the US' most prolific basin, midstreamers like Epic have embarked on smaller scale initiatives to boost throughputs.
"We're doing debottlenecks, additional connections. Things that enable our systems to work better," said Freed, pointing out the ability to expand pipeline capacity with just the addition of more pumping stations.
The inclusion of WTI into the Brent assessment will certainly help draw more US crude overseas, as will the sanctions on Russian crude -- meaning a need for more export capacity and the onshore pipelines to feed them.
US export capacity is a bit over 5mn b/d currently but will need to keep expanding. "But sometimes things have to line up just right to be able to do that kind of volume," Freed said.
