Borderlands Mexico: Port of Corpus Christi becomes global crude oil supplier

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Port of Corpus Christi becomes global crude oil supplier; Port of Brownsville secures $43M loan for ship channel expansion; US Lumber Brokers acquires Texas distribution center; and Holt Truck Centers expands across Texas with acquisition.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —The shores along the Corpus Christi Ship Channel are lined with massive storage tanks, grain elevators and oceanbound vessels docked along the 34-mile blue-green waterway.

Since Congress repealed the crude oil export ban in 2015 and allowed U.S. crude oil to be sold on the world market, the Port of Corpus Christi has become a global crude oil refinery hub.

The port is the largest exporter of oil and fuels in the U.S. and the third-largest exporter of crude oil in the world, behind the top-ranked Ras Tanura port in Saudi Arabia and the Basrah Oil Terminal in Iraq.

The Port of Corpus Christi is also the top U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas.

“I started here in 2015, when the Obama administration lifted the export ban, and I saw the first vessel sail out of Corpus Christi with the first load of domestic crude headed to an international market,” TJ Gonzalez, the port’s commercial and business development manager, told FreightWaves during a media event on Oct. 11. “Since then, our crude oil exports have increased 17 times; it’s what has put us on the map, being the No. 3 export gateway for crude oil in the world.”

The Netherlands is the top crude oil export market for the Port of Corpus Christi, followed by several other European and Asian countries.

The ship channel, which extends into the Gulf of Mexico, has helped the port export crude oil globally at an increasing rate, moving 33.5 million tons during the third quarter, a 3% year-over-year increase.

During the third quarter, the port achieved a quarterly record with 53 million total tons of freight moved. There were also smaller increases in volumes for refined products, liquefied natural gas and dry bulk goods, according to a news release.

Through the first eight months of the year, trade at the Port of Corpus Christi increased 9% year over year to $60.29 billion, compared to the same period in 2023, according to Census Bureau data compiled by WorldCity.

“Two of our larger oil customers are Enbridge and Gibson Energy,” Gonzalez said. “Enbridge roughly moves about 950,000 barrels per day, with Gibson moving an additional 500,000 barrels per day, and then the rest of our midstream partners make up the difference. That builds up to 2.5 million barrels per day at the port.”