Port of Corpus Christi to consider raising $300m to prepare for increased oil exports

Port of Corpus Christi officials are to consider $300m in financing that would prepare the oil-export port to handle a surge in U.S. shale production over the next five years, according to reports. 

Infrastructure constraints along the U.S. Gulf Coast have prevented international buyers from accessing crude oil. Terminals originally designed for imports only recently have revamped operations to handle exports including accepting larger tankers preferred by China and other oil buyers.

It has been reported that the Port of Corpus Christi Commission is voting on a plan that would authorise it to raise the debt next month through underwriters led by Wells Fargo & Co, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The port is prepared to levy new user fees for the debt costs if the U.S. government does not reimburse it for spending the money to deepen and widen port facilities to accept larger ships, according to a port official. A decision to raise fees for dredging, which could begin as early as September, would be rare among U.S. Gulf Coast ports.

Oil export capacity from the Corpus Christi area is expected to rise to 3.3 million bpd by 2021 from 1.3 million bpd this year, according to energy research firm Wood Mackenzie.

For more information, visit: www.portofcc.com

18th June 2018