Port of Corpus Christi approves VLCC project lease

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority approved a lease agreement and a pipeline easement for a deepwater crude export terminal off the Texas coast.

The Bluewater project, a Phillips 66-Trafigura joint venture, will be able to fully load very large crude carriers (VLCCs) that can hold up to 2mn bl. The project includes two single-point mooring buoys located about 21 nautical miles from the entrance of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The project is designed to load 16 VLCCs a month.

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority Commission approved a lease agreement that allows Bluewater to access existing pipeline corridors and other property, including 12 acres for an operations facility on Harbor Island.

Phillips 66 submitted an application to the US Maritime Administration for Bluewater in May 2019. Trafigura joined the project in February 2020 after withdrawing its own plan for a VLCC offshore port.

A few other companies — including Energy Transfer, Enterprise Products Partners and Sentinel — are also weighing offshore oil ports in the US Gulf coast.

The Port of Corpus Christi has also proposed a separate project to develop a marine terminal at Harbor Island to increase crude export capacity, including the loading of VLCCs.

Currently, only one US port is able to fully load a VLCC — the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (Loop) about 20 miles (32km) off the coast from Grand Isle, Louisiana.

By Eunice Bridges