The US Port of Corpus Christi in Texas ended 2020 with record tonnage, mainly due to a surge in crude oil shipments but LNG volumes also increased.
The port said in a statement it set a new annual tonnage record of 159.7 million tons, a 31 percent increase over 2019, as well as a new monthly record of 15.9 million tons for December.
Moreover, the nation’s top oil exporting hub boosted oil shipments by 65 percent to 96.4 million tons, while the port saw a 26 percent increase in LNG shipments to 8.7 million tons.
LNG shipments increased as Cheniere ramped up production at its Corpus Christi liquefaction plant.
The Corpus Christi terminal currently consists of two 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.
In addition, the US LNG exporter shipped the first commissioning cargo produced from the third train in December last year. The third train will boost the total production to 15 mtpa.
Cheniere expects substantial completion of this unit in the first quarter of this year.
