Record tonnage at Port of Corpus Christi in first quarter

The figure surpassed the year-over-year quarterly figure by more than 6m tonnes. March saw the best month ever for the Port of Corpus Christi – with over 17.5m tonnes of cargo moving through the gateway.

Specific sectors of strength included crude oil at a 24.3% on-year increase, with crude oil exports hitting a record 2.3m barrels per day. Liquified natural gas (LNG) grew marginally to 4.2m tonnes in Q1-2023 versus Q1-2022, approximately 1.8%.

LNG exports are expected to grow as Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility is currently undergoing a 12m tonne-per-year capacity expansion with new volumes expected to come online sometime in late 2024 or early 2025.

“The Port of Corpus Christi and our customers continue to drive more energy-related tonnage through the gateway, demonstrating confidence in the organisation and our infrastructure investments, which have increased the economic resiliency of the region, the state of Texas and the Nation,” said Sean Strawbridge, Chief Executive Officer for the Port of Corpus Christi and Chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).

Earlier this year, the Port of Corpus Christi was awarded a $16.4m grant through the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) initiative. These grants will help the Port evaluate the feasibility of permanently storing captured carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial operations – potentially accelerating the development of a centralized solution to capture and manage CO2 emissions, a key component of the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

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The Port of Corpus Christi also created an Integrated Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub and has submitted the application to the DoE in early April.