Corpus Christi Port in Texas Sees Increase in Crude Oil Volumes

The Port of Corpus Christi in Texas moved 33.5 million tons of petroleum in the third quarter, about three percent higher than the same three-month period last year and the prior quarter in 2024.

The increase in crude oil drove an overall two percent growth to 53 million tons, it said in a statement. The port’s total volume broke the record of the third quarter of 2023 as the highest quarter in its history, despite going through two hurricanes.

The consistent increase in oil shipments passing through the port this year aligns with the increasing trend in crude oil net imports — gross imports minus gross exports — in the United States in the same period. U.S. net crude imports averaged 2.67 million barrels a day (MMbd) in the July–September period according to the country’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). The Port of Corpus Christi claims to be the nation’s biggest “energy export gateway”. By total waterborne tonnage, it is the country's biggest port after the ports of Houston, Texas, and South Louisiana, Louisiana, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Year-to-date, the Port of Corpus Christi moved 2.4 MMbd of crude oil, up from 2.3 MMbd in the first nine months of 2023.

“There were also modest increases in volumes for refined products, liquefied natural gas and dry bulk goods”, said the quarterly report on the port’s website.

The U.S. saw a year-over-year and quarter-on-quarter increase in LNG exports to 11 billion cubic feet a day, data in the EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook showed.

“After a slightly slower start to the year compared with the record-breaking way our customers ended 2023, we’re pleased to see the tremendous pickup in volume through the gateway in the third quarter of 2024”, chief executive Kent Britton said. “Through continued investment in our maritime infrastructure, the Port of Corpus Christi and its strong customer base remain well-positioned for future growth”.

Last year, for the first time, the port moved over 200 million tons of goods, up 8.1 percent from 2022. The achievement rode on a 12.5 percent increase in crude oil shipments to 126.1 million tons.

U.S. crude oil exports in 2023, totaling 4.1 MMbd and rising 13 percent year-on-year, surpassed the annual record set in 2022. Except for 2021, annual U.S. crude oil exports have climbed since 2015, when the government lifted a restriction on exports that was in effect from 1975, according to the EIA.

In September 2023 the final contract for the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project was awarded. The four-phase project to widen the channel is expected to be completed next year. The port says the project would make it the U.S.’ biggest crude oil export gateway with a volume of nearly one billion barrels annually, as well as the deepest draft channel in the Gulf of Mexico.

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