ShippingAnalysis

US approves 2 million b/d crude export port off Louisiana

MARAD licensed Energy Transfer's Blue Marlin port, able to load VLCCs 99 miles off Louisiana. It adds no capacity yet, so freight still sets Asia's bill for US crude.

By Procupy News DeskPublished 6 Nov 2026, 1:37 PM IST5 min readSource: gCaptain

In 60 words

MARAD has approved a deepwater port licence for Blue Marlin Offshore Port, an Energy Transfer affiliate's $1 billion terminal about 99 miles off Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It is designed to load VLCCs at up to 2 million barrels a day. No construction start or in-service date was announced, so the project does not change near-term freight or delivered costs for Asian refiners.

Key points

MARAD approved Blue Marlin Offshore Port, designed to load VLCCs at up to 2 million barrels a day about 99 miles off Louisiana¹.
No construction start or in-service date was announced, and the initial application dates from October 2020¹.
US crude exports fell back to about 3.7 million b/d in the third quarter from a 5.2 million b/d peak, Kpler data cited by Gibson show².
US Gulf to Ningbo VLCC freight averaged $35 a barrel over October 1 to 25, six times the year-earlier level³.

The US Maritime Administration has approved a deepwater port licence for Blue Marlin Offshore Port, a $1 billion crude export terminal planned about 99 miles off Cameron Parish, Louisiana¹. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the approval on November 5¹.

The project is developed by an affiliate of Energy Transfer and is designed to load VLCCs, or very large crude carriers, at up to 2 million barrels a day¹. Its maximum loading rate is 80,000 barrels an hour¹. Crude would arrive by pipeline from the Nederland Terminal area in Texas and other inland hubs¹.

MARAD says the offshore site keeps the largest tankers out of congested coastal waterways and could reduce collision risks¹. The project will use existing and converted offshore platform infrastructure¹.

It is the fourth deepwater port approved under the Trump administration, after the Texas GulfLink crude project, Delfin LNG and the $8.2 billion ST LNG project¹. It is the second crude export project cleared since the January 2025 Unleashing American Energy order¹. The Department of Transportation said the project would support up to 1,052 construction jobs¹.

A permit is not a terminal

The approval came with no construction start date and no completion timeline¹. Blue Marlin's initial application was submitted in October 2020, and the final environmental impact statement was completed earlier this year¹. The Environmental Protection Agency proposed air permits for the facility only in October¹.

Licences also come with conditions. For the ST LNG project, MARAD's approval required the developer to agree in writing not to change its application⁴. It also had to show compliance with nine conditions, covering financial responsibility, oil spill liability and decommissioning, at least 90 days before a licence could be issued⁴.

Gibson, the shipbroker, said in early October that of four proposed US deepwater crude terminals, only Sentinel Midstream's Texas GulfLink was progressing². GulfLink was licensed in February 2026, began construction in May and targets a start-up in the fourth quarter of 2028². Enterprise's Sea Port Oil Terminal was licensed in 2024 but still has no positive final investment decision². The Phillips 66 and Trafigura project Bluewater Texas was unlicensed and faced air permit issues². Gibson described Blue Marlin as unlicensed at that time, with Energy Transfer shifting its focus to upstream investment, particularly in natural gas².

That assessment is now out of date on the licence. It is still open on commercial backing, because Energy Transfer has set out no timeline or customers^1, 2.

Freight decides the arbitrage

US crude exports peaked at around 5.2 million b/d in the second quarter, lifted by close to 1.3 million b/d of Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases². They then fell back by around 1.5 million b/d to about 3.7 million b/d in the third quarter, according to Kpler data cited by Gibson².

How that oil leaves the Gulf matters. VLCCs took around 50% of PADD 3 crude exports in May and June, fell below 30% in August and recovered to around 45% in September, while Aframaxes carried a substantial share². That mix means VLCC cargoes depend on reverse lightering, where smaller ships load and transfer oil at sea². Gibson said the US will remain reliant on reverse lightering for at least the next two years².

The freight bill explains the recent drop in Asian buying. The US Gulf Coast to China VLCC rate was almost $60 million as of October 22, after touching $79.6 million earlier in the month⁵. That compares with an average below $8 million in the half decade before the conflict⁵. Randy Hawkins, Valero's head of oil trading, said refiners were effectively paying $30 to $35 to move each barrel to Asia⁵.

Vortexa put US Gulf to Ningbo VLCC freight at an average of $35 a barrel over October 1 to 25, six times the $5.80 a barrel of a year earlier³. Asian refinery orders for November US crude fell roughly 50% to 24 million to 26 million barrels⁵.

Buyers pay for certainty

East Asian refiners have not walked away. Platts assessed WTI Midland delivered to Yeosu at $34.60 a barrel over front-month Dubai on September 18, a record, and at $26.30 a barrel on October 26⁶. Premiums have consistently exceeded $10 a barrel since the start of the second quarter⁶.

The premium buys reliability. A feedstock manager at a major Japanese refiner said a premium is warranted for cargoes that are nearly certain to be delivered on time⁶.

Japan took 384,330 b/d from North American suppliers in the first eight months, up 352% from 85,017 b/d a year earlier, according to METI data cited by Platts⁶. South Korea imported 144.22 million barrels of US crude from January to September, up 19.1%, and wants no single region to supply more than 50% of its crude by 2035⁶.

The licensing change behind the run of approvals

The faster approvals come from a change in who leads the review. In January, MARAD became the lead agency for deepwater port reviews and the Coast Guard moved to a supporting role on vessel operations, maritime safety and security⁴. Responsibility for reviews under the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 was transferred from the Coast Guard to MARAD in early 2026⁷.

The Department of Transportation said the ST LNG review finished nearly 3.7 years faster than the historical average, a 70% reduction⁴. MARAD completed the final environmental impact statement in 410 days⁴. A DOT spokesperson said the gain came from a single federal docket, one project team and aligned public comment periods, and that the project did not benefit from one-time exemptions⁴.

The LNG approvals follow the same pattern. ST LNG, the $8.2 billion project off Matagorda, Texas, won its record of decision in late October⁷. Its president, Alap Shah, told Reuters it expects a final investment decision by the end of next year and first commercial cargoes as early as mid-2030⁷. The first unit needs about 2 million tonnes a year of long-term sales and purchase agreements⁷.

What to watch

First steel at Blue Marlin. No construction start has been announced¹. GulfLink began construction in May after its February licence and targets a fourth-quarter 2028 start².
A final investment decision, and where Energy Transfer puts its capital².
Air permits, which the EPA proposed in October¹.
Reverse lightering economics. The VLCC share of PADD 3 exports swings with Aframax availability and ship-to-ship logistics².
Delivered premiums. WTI Midland delivered to Yeosu was assessed at $26.30 a barrel over Dubai on October 26⁶.

What this means for procurement teams

For crude buyers, the licence changes the pipeline of US export options, not this year's delivered cost. Blue Marlin has no construction start date and no in-service date¹. Gibson expects US VLCC exports to depend on reverse lightering for at least two more years, and only Texas GulfLink is under construction among the four proposed terminals².

So freight stays the swing factor in any US crude term deal. When a US Gulf to China VLCC voyage cost almost $60 million, Asian refiners cut November orders by roughly half⁵. US Gulf to Ningbo freight averaged $35 a barrel in October³. Price 2027 supply on a delivered basis, and keep the freight assumption as a variable rather than a fixed number in the contract.

Three tests are worth setting before any term plan changes. First, a final investment decision at Blue Marlin, where Energy Transfer has so far emphasised upstream investment and natural gas². Second, the outstanding air permits, which the EPA only proposed in October¹. Third, customer commitments and a timeline for first liftings, neither of which the approval announcement provided¹.

Until those clear, keep a lightering-capable Aframax option and at least one non-US Atlantic alternative in the mix. Delivered premiums for WTI Midland into Asia reached $26.30 a barrel over Dubai on October 26, and that is what you are paying for certainty today⁶.

Sources

1.gCaptain, MARAD Approves $1 Billion Offshore Crude Oil Export Port Off Louisiana, 6 November 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
2.hellenicshippingnews.com, Tankers: Can the US Sustain Increased Crude Export Capabilities?. Accessed 6 November 2026.
3.Hellenic Shipping News, Is an Atlantic Basin crude glut on the cards?, 28 October 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
4.gCaptain, How MARAD Cut Years Off Deepwater Port Reviews Without Changing Environmental Standards, 30 October 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
5.gCaptain, Record Tanker Rates Threaten to Push U.S. Oil Exports to Asia to Seven-Year Low, 23 October 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
6.Hellenic Shipping News, Asian refiners view US crude premium as cost of stable supply, logistics security, 5 November 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
7.The Maritime Executive, Texas Offshore LNG Terminal Speeds Towards Development. Accessed 6 November 2026.

How this story was made: the Procupy News Desk researched and wrote it with AI tools, working only from the sources listed above. Automated checks confirmed that every number and quote appears in those sources, and a separate AI fact-check compared the story with them before publication. Read our editorial policy. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.