The Port of Corpus Christi ended 2022 with record tonnage, mainly attributable to a 21 percent year-over-year increase in refined products and 15 percent YOY increase in total crude oil.
The Port of Corpus Christi achieved a new annual tonnage record of 187.9 million tons – a 12 percent increase over 2021 volumes.
Crude averaged a record 2 million barrels of export volumes per day in 2022, an increase over its 2021 record average of 1.76 million barrels per day. Petrochemicals exports increased 23 percent YOY, reaching 3 million tons for the year.
Port of Corpus Christi CEO announces departure
Notably, LNG exports have doubled since 2020 and increased 3.5 percent in 2022 versus 2021. Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility announced its Phase 3 expansion in 2022, which will increase LNG exports by another 12 million tons per year over its current 16 million tons today.
The Port of Corpus Christi finished 2022 on another record high quarter in Q4 2022 – 49.6 million tons – surpassing the previous record of 48.3 million tons set in the previous quarter. For the periods July through December 2022, the Port of Corpus Christi‘s tonnage was 97.8 million metric tons, up 12 percent from the previous half-year record set in the second half of 2021.
“The Port of Corpus Christi continued to see strength in the energy and chemicals sectors in 2022, and we are grateful for our customers’ confidence in the gateway to move their goods to the markets that need them the most. The continuing trust of our industrial partners and overseas allies in our ability to deliver essential goods and services underscores the critical role the Port of Corpus Christi serves in the global trades,” said Sean Strawbridge, Chief Executive Officer for the Port of Corpus Christi. “We do expect a leveling off of volume growth in 2023 as more indications of a global recession persist. However, the Port of Corpus Christi remains committed to its Capital Investment Program in 2023 and beyond, and we expect new investments and new energy initiatives to continue long after recessionary pressures ease.”
In December, the Port of Corpus Christi hit an all-time high for crude oil exports, exceeding 70 million barrels in a month for the first time in its history. In 2022, the Port of Corpus Christi accounted for roughly 60 percent of all crude oil exports, according to research firm RBN Energy.
Through the past six years, the Port of Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend have attracted more than $65 billion in private industrial investments, engendering a thriving community, built on 98,000 Port-related jobs. Continued infrastructure investments include the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, which once completed in 2024 will render the Corpus Christi Ship Channel the deepest and widest ship channel in the entire U.S. Gulf. Work on Phases 2 and 3 of this four-phase project are ongoing. The final phase will commence in 2023, courtesy of project closeout funding approved by Congress in December 2022.
Committed to evolving and marshalling change for U.S. port authorities, the Port of Corpus Christi is exploring innovative initiatives, such as scalable hydrogen and renewable energy production, as well as a centralized Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) solution for existing target sources and anticipated area projects.
“As the Energy Port of the Americas, the Port of Corpus Christi embraces new technologies but also remains committed to the enduring commodities that continue to power the energy landscape,” said Charles W. Zahn Jr., Port of Corpus Christi Commission Chairman. “We look forward to strengthening our longtime partnerships and welcoming new projects to the fold in this next chapter of our story.”
