Deepwater Oil Export Terminal off Texas Coast Approved

What Happened?

The Trump Administration has approved plans to build a second deepwater oil loading terminal off the Texas coast. 

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy issued as a statement saying, “With this approval, we are increasing our energy revenue and unlocking our vast oil resources, not just for domestic security but to dominate the global market.” 

The move by the Trump Administration comes after the Biden Administration had missed a deadline to rule on the proposal. 

Why it Matters

When completed the Gulf Link oil terminal is projected to have the capacity to load one million barrels of oil per day onto oil tankers for export overseas. The just approved Gulf Link terminal is expected to operate alongside the much larger Sea Port Oil Terminal which was approved in 2022 but has not yet been built. 

Charles McConnell, a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy said that the export of petroleum products is now the biggest revenue source among American exports. He added “As the volumes of that fracked oil become more potentially impactful, we’re going to need a more effective away of getting it exported.” 

As of 2024, the United States was the world’s third largest exporter of oil, trailing only Saudi Arabia and Russia. In addition, America is already the world’s top oil producer. 

Because the United States is relatively new to oil exports, having only begun exporting oil about a decade ago, the infrastructure it needs to grow that export volume has lagged behind domestic oil production.

Projects like the Gulf Link and the Sea Port Oil Terminal are designed to remedy that problem. 

Geography likely played a key role in the Trump Administrations decision. As Dylan Baddour pointed out “Although the Gulf Coast region in Texas and Louisiana processes the majority of American oil exports, it has just one deepwater terminal capable of docking with supermassive tankers.” 

Because the shallow water near the coast prevents supertankers from reaching facilities there, the only way to accommodate such enormous ships is to build facilities miles offshore in much deeper water. 

Along with the construction of the Gulf Link terminal, two new pipelines and a large tank farm will be built as part of the same project. The tank storage facility would be built near the town of Jones Creek, Texas. 

Residents of the town recently passed a resolution opposing the project, not because of environmental issues but concerns over light and noise pollution. 

How it Affects You

Increased capacity to export oil will likely mean more production and more jobs for areas like Texas, North Dakota, and New Mexico. 

Although the new projects will likely take years to complete, their approval could herald a new chapter of growth for the U.S. oil export sector.