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 utilizes the Corpus Christi Ship Channel located on the Gulf of Mexico and is the largest port in the United States by tonnage handling over 122,200,000 tons annually. The port has a $150 billion economic impact to the U.S. and a $17 billion economic impact to Texas. In the Coastal Bend, the Port accounts for 100,000 port related jobs and is responsible for $4.5 billion in personal income. Over the past decade, the port has seen operating revenue more than triple and total assets more than double, all while investing in both themselves and the environment. The cargo the port handles is primarily project cargo, agriculture products, and petroleum but they have since expanded into steel pipes, crude oil, propane, iron, resin, ethylene, and liquified natural gas.

Given the trend of the United States producing fuel sources, deepening and widening the Corpus Christi Ship Channel is the key to maintaining and increasing this trend. The port prides itself as the 2nd largest energy export in the nation in terms of market value. Completion of the channel project will allow the port to increase export volumes of U.S. oil and natural gas, bolstering domestic energy production while supporting our Nation’s allies abroad. And considering the Energy Information Administration’s forecast that the country will become a net exporter as early as 2022, this further pushes the urgency of the project to make that forecast a reality. Deepening the channel to allow larger, deeper draft ships will provide over $100 million in annual transportation cost savings, not including the transportation cost savings associated with crude oil exports.