Swiss
commodities trader Trafigura has applied to build a deep-water port in
Corpus Christi, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico, which will be able to load
supertankers, reports FT.
The report said that the plan would see the commodity house
build an offshore deepwater port facility with a view to accommodate
very large crude carriers (VLCC) capable of carrying more than 2m
barrels of crude. It requires approval from the US Department of
Transportation’s maritime division.
According to a Reuters report, United States began exporting crude
oil in 2016 after the ban on exports was lifted but while its production
and therefore exports keep hitting new highs, its infrastructure has
not kept up.
The United States exports over 2 million barrels per day of crude
while output hit 11 million bpd for the first time last month, making
the country the biggest producer in the world after Russia.
According to a press release from the company, VLCCs are the most
economical and efficient way of transporting crude around the world,
carrying up to 2 million barrels per voyage, however no US inland ports
are capable of fully loading a VLCC. Currently, to fully load a VLCC
multiple Ship To Ship Transfers (STSs) are performed in lightering zones
out at sea.
On July 9, 2018, Texas Gulf Terminals, Inc., owned
by Trafigura US Inc., part of privately-held physical trading and
logistics company with offices in Houston, Texas, submitted its permit
application for a new Project. The Texas Gulf Terminals Project is a new
offshore Deep Water Port facility that will allow VLCCs and other
tankers to load cargo safely, directly and fully via a single-point
mooring buoy system (SPM).
Using SPMs eliminates unnecessary ship traffic in inland ports as well as the “double handling”
of the same crude oil, reducing the opportunity for spills and
emissions each time the crude oil is transferred. Once constructed, this
globally-proven technology, will ease infrastructure barriers to crude
oil exports, grow the U.S. economy, and support jobs.
The Texas Gulf Terminals Project is the latest in a series of
long-term investments that Trafigura has made in communities across the
U.S., including a nearly USD1 billion investment in the premier marine
export terminal and condensate splitter in Corpus Christi, Texas
(Buckeye) and the construction of the Burnside Bulk Storage Terminal in Darrow, Louisiana, which rebuilt a site from the mid-1950s into a state-of-the-art bulk facility designed to facilitate international exports.
“The Texas Gulf Terminals Project will give U.S.
crude oil producers, particularly Texas operators, safer, cleaner and
more efficient access to very large crude carriers, ensuring that the
economic and employment benefits of increasing domestic crude production
can be fully realized right here at home,” said Corey Prologo, Director, Texas Gulf Terminals Inc. and Director of Trafigura, North America.
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