The US Port of Corpus Christi in Texas said it has achieved its best quarter and half-year tonnage in its 100-year history, driven primarily by increases in crude oil and refined products exports as well as LNG exports.
According to a statement, second-quarter tonnage hit 46.4 million tons and 90.1 million tons in the first six months of the year.
These new records eclipsed the prior record quarter (Q4 2021) by 4.8 percent and increased 11.9 percent from the previous half year record established in the first half of 2021.
Crude oil shipments for the first half totaled 52.4 million tons, for a gain of more than 12 percent over the prior record set in the same period last year.
LNG exports contributed to the records as well, reaching 8.1 million tons in the first half of this year, the port said.
This marked a rise of 11 percent compared to the same period last year.
LNG shipments increased as Cheniere continues to boost LNG production at its Corpus Christi liquefaction plant.
The Corpus Christi terminal currently consists of three operational trains with each having a capacity of about 5 million tonnes per annum.
Cheniere completed the first train in February 2019 followed by the second in August the same year, while Bechtel handed over operational control of the third train in March 2021.
The LNG exporter recently took a financial investment decision on Stage 3 Corpus Christi expansion.
Under the expansion, Cheniere will add up to seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa, with a total production capacity of more than 10 mtpa.
