Pending Applications

Blue Marlin (Blue Marlin Offshore Port LLC)

Port Type: Oil Export Facility. Proposed capacity: 80,000 barrels per hour; 1,920,000 barrels per day.

On October 1, 2020, Blue marlin Offshore Port, LLC (BMOP) submitted an application to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for the ownership, construction, operation and eventual decommissioning of an offshore oil export terminal under the statutory provided by the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended.  MARAD and USCG will serve as co-lead agencies for review of the application.

BMOP is proposing to construct, own and operate a deepwater port terminal in the Gulf of Mexico to export domestically produced crude oil.  Use of the deepwater port would include the loading of various grades of crude oil at flow rates of up to 80,000 barrels per hour (bph).  The BMOP deepwater port would allow for up to one Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) or other crude oil carriers to moor at the catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) and connect with the deepwater port via floating connecting crude oil hoses. The maximum frequency of loading VLCCs or other crude oil carriers would be approximately two million barrels per day, 365 days per year.

MARAD and USCG determined the application was complete on October 22, 2020.  A Notice of Application announcing public availability of the application was posted in the Federal Register on November 4, 2020 (85 FR 70233).  The project has been assigned a Federal Docket Management System ID of MARAD-2020-0167 and public comments may be submitted to that docket through the www.regulations.gov website.  The BMOP application materials may also be viewed on the docket.

The virtual open houses and public scoping meetings have been scheduled for December 2, 2020 and December 3, 2020, for the communities of Cameron Parish, Louisiana and Jefferson County and Orange County, Texas.  Registration information can be found at www.bluemarlinnepaprocess.com. A Notice of Intent announcing this meeting was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2020 (85 FR 70707) and is available on the public docket at www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD 2020-0167.  Meeting notices have also been placed on the local newspaper and social media.

For additional information regarding this port as well as the deepwater port application review and licensing process, see Federal Docket number MARAD-2020-0167.

Bluewater (Bluewater Texas Terminals LLC)

Port Type: Oil Export Facility. Proposed capacity: 80,000 barrels per hour; 1,920,000 barrels per day.

On May 30, 2019, the Maritime Administration  and U.S. Coast Guard  received an application from Bluewater for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct, and operate a deepwater port to export domestically produced crude oil.  The application was deemed complete on June 20, 2019 and a Federal Register Notice of Application was issued to that effect on June 26, 2019 (84 FR 30301).  Texas is the Adjacent Coastal State for this project.  The proposed Bluewater deepwater port terminal would be located approximately 15 nautical miles off the coast of San Patricio County, Texas, in a water depth of 89 feet. 

The proposed project involves the design, engineering, and construction of an offshore deepwater port, approximately 56.48 miles of pipeline infrastructure, and a booster station.  The Bluewater project would allow for up to two (2) very large crude carriers (VLCCs) or other crude oil carriers to moor at single point mooring (SPM) buoys and connect with the deepwater port via floating connecting crude oil hoses.  During single vessel loading operations, the proposed project would be capable of loading rates of up to approximately 80,000 barrels per hour (bph), and during simultaneous vessel loading operations, capable of loading rates of 40,000 bph.  The facility is expected to service 16 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) per month.

The Maritime Administration, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, hosted an open house and public scoping meeting on Monday, July 22, 2019 in Corpus Christi, Texas for the Bluewater deepwater port license application.  A Federal Register Notice was published on August 15, 2019 (84 FR 41806) to advise the public that the public scoping comment period was extended to August 30, 2019.  On November 7, 2019, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the regulatory timeline for the Bluewater deepwater port license application.

The timeline suspension provides the applicant an opportunity to submit additional information and/or analyses determined necessary for the completion of the project's Environmental Impact Statement.  During the timeline suspension, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard will continue work on other resource areas not related to the requested information. The regulatory timeline will resume upon the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard's receipt and validation of the requested information.  A Federal Register notice was published on August 7, 2020 (85 FR 48070) to announce the receipt and availability of project scope changes for the Bluewater Deepwater Port license application.

For additional information regarding this port as well as the deepwater port application review and licensing process, see   Federal Docket Number MARAD-2019-0094.

GulfLink (Texas GulfLink LLC)

Port Type: Oil Export Facility. Proposed capacity: 85,000 barrels per hour; 1,000,000 barrels per day.

On May 30, 2019, the Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast Guard received an application from Texas GulfLink for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct, and operate a deepwater port for the export of domestically produced crude oil. The deepwater port would be located approximately 28.3 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas, in a water depth of approximately 104 feet. After a coordinated completeness review by the Maritime Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other cooperating Federal agencies, the application was deemed complete on June 20, 2019, as it contained information sufficient to initiate processing. A Federal Register Notice of Application was issued to that effect on June 26, 2019 (84 FR 30298).

Texas GulfLink is proposing to construct, own, and operate a deepwater port terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed project involves the design, engineering, and construction of a deepwater port, two fixed offshore platforms with piles in Outer Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block 423, approximately 45.02 statute miles of pipeline infrastructure, and a booster station.  The Texas GulfLink deepwater port would allow for up to two (2) very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to moor at single point mooring (SPM) buoys and connect with the deepwater port via floating connecting crude oil hoses. The proposed project is capable of loading rates of up to approximately 85,000 barrels per hour. The facility is expected to service 15 VLCCs per month.

The Maritime Administration, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, hosted an open house and public scoping meeting on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 in Lake Jackson, Texas for the Texas GulfLink deepwater port license application. The purpose of the meeting is to solicit public comments to inform the development of an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed deepwater port.  A Federal Register Notice was published on September 6, 2019 (84 FR 47059) to advise the public that the public scoping comment period was extended to September 24, 2019.  On November 8, 2019, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the regulatory timeline for the GulfLink deepwater port license application for submission of additional information and analyses determined necessary for the completion of the project's Environmental Impact Statement.  The requested information was submitted and the suspension of the regulatory timeline was removed on April 27, 2020.  On September 15, 2020, the regulatory timeline for the GulfLink deepwater port license application was suspended for submission of additional information and analyses determined necessary for the National Environmental Policy Act review.  The regulatory timeline was reinstated on November 10, 2020.

A Notice of Application announcing an open house and public availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the GulfLink was posted in the Federal Register on November 27, 2020 (85 FR 76157).  The virtual open house is currently available online at https://TexasGulfLinkDWP-EIS.consultation.ai.  The DEIS public meetings have been scheduled for December 16, 2020 and December 17, 2020.  Registration information for the DEIS can be found online at the following website: https://TexasGulfLinkDWP-EIS.consultation.ai.  Meeting notices have also been placed on the local newspaper and social media.

For additional information regarding this port as well as the deepwater port application review and licensing process, see Federal Docket Number MARAD-2019-0093.

Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) (SPOT Terminal Services LLC)

Port Type: Oil Export Facility. Proposed capacity: 85,000 barrels per hour; 2,000,000 barrels per day

On January 31, 2019, the Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast Guard received an application from SPOT Terminal Services LLC for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct, and operate a deepwater port to for the export of domestically produced crude oil.  The application was deemed complete on February 22, 2019 and a Federal Register Notice of Application was issued to that effect on March 4, 2019 (84 FR 74135). The State of Texas has been deemed the Adjacent Coastal State.  The deepwater port would be located approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the coast of Freeport, Texas. 

The proposed facility would consist of two co-located 36-inch outside diameter, 40.8-nautical mile long crude oil pipelines, constructed from the shoreline crossing in Brazoria County, Texas, to the SPOT deepwater port for crude oil delivery. The deepwater port wound connect to two (2) Single Point Mooring (SPM) buoys through pipeline laterals. The SPM buoy system would be positioned in water depths of approximately 115 feet and consist of a pipeline end manifold, catenary anchor leg mooring system, and other associated equipment. The facility will be capable of exporting 85,000 barrels of oil per hour. 

The Maritime Administration, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, hosted an open house and public scoping meeting on March 20, 2019 in Lake Jackson, Texas for the SPOT deepwater port license application.  The public scoping period for the SPOT deepwater port license application ended on April 8, 2019.

On May 31, 2019, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the regulatory timeline for the SPOT deepwater port license application.  The regulatory timeline was restarted on October 23, 2019.  The regulatory stop ended on February 5, 2020.  The timeline suspension provided the applicant an opportunity to submit additional information and/or analyses determined necessary for the completion of the project's Environmental Impact Statement.

The Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast Guard held a public meeting in connection with the SPOT Draft Environmental Impact Statement in Lake Jackson, Texas, 77566 on February 26, 2020.  A Federal Register notice was published on May 1, 2020 (85 FR 25507) to notify the public of a thirty day extension period to submit comments.  Details of the extension are provided in the Federal Register notice, which can be accessed by clicking this link.  On June 4, 2020, the statutory timeline for the SPOT application was suspended due to the need for additional information from the applicant.

For additional information regarding this port as well as the deepwater port application review and licensing process, see Federal Docket Number MARAD-2019-0011.

West Delta LNG (West Delta LNG LLC)

Port Type: Gas Export Facility. Proposed average throughput capacity 750 million standard cubic feet per day. Peak capacity: 900 million standard cubic feet per day.

On August 28, 2019, the Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast Guard received an application from West Delta LNG for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct, and operate a deepwater port for the export of domestically produced natural gas.   The application was deemed complete on September 18, 2019, and a Federal Register Notice of Application was issued to that effect on September 26, 2019 (84 FR 50880).  Louisiana is the designated Adjacent Coastal State for this deepwater port license application.  The proposed deepwater port would be located approximately 10.5 nautical miles off the coast of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. 

The proposed facility would consist of a 30-inch outside diameter, 19.8-nautical mile long pipeline from the onshore Venice Pretreatment Plant through a shoreline crossing in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana to the offshore West Delta LNG deepwater port.  The deepwater port would consist of 13 fixed bridge connected platforms in a water depth of approximately 57 to 60 feet.   There will be three types of platforms at the facility: (1) A LNG production and storage platforms; (2) a LNG loading platform and (3) a Marine Berth Facilities and Support Facilities.  Eleven (11) bridges will connect the platforms and marine berth as well as provide for piping, electrical instruments/automation and personnel transport between platforms.

The Maritime Administration, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, hosted an open house and public scoping meeting on October 29, 2019 in Belle Chasse, Louisiana for the West Delta LNG deepwater port license application.  The public scoping period for the West Delta LNG deepwater port license application ended on November 6, 2019.

On December 12, 2019, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the regulatory timeline for the West Delta LNG deepwater port license application. The timeline suspension provides the applicant an opportunity to submit additional information and/or analyses determined necessary for the completion of the project's Environmental Impact Statement.  During the timeline suspension, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to work on other resource areas not related to the requested information. 

For additional information regarding this port as well as the deepwater port application review and licensing process, see Federal Docket Number MARAD-2019-0095.