U.S. Approves $1 Billion Oil Port With Capacity of 2 Million Barrels a Day
Key Facts
The U.S. Department of Transportation said on November 5, 2026, that the Maritime Administration had approved an application for a license for the Blue Marlin Offshore Port to export crude oil off the coast of Louisiana. The facility has a stated cost of $1 billion and a designed capacity of 2 million barrels a day, or 80,000 barrels an hour, according to the department. The approval places the project among plans to expand the United States’ capacity to ship crude to global markets. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said construction of the port would open new supply routes, adding that "energy security is national security." The stated figures describe the planned facility’s capacity, while the department points to its expected benefits once it is operating.
The planned port is located about 99 miles off the coast of Cameron Parish and will use existing, converted platform infrastructure in West Cameron Block 509. Crude is expected to be transported through a dedicated pipeline system linking inland supply hubs in Texas, including the Nederland Terminal area, to southwestern Louisiana and then to the offshore port platform. This arrangement would bring crude to the offshore loading facility, rather than describing marine transport as the link between supply hubs and markets. The department says the deepwater location allows very large crude carriers to load directly. The plan is designed to bring together onshore supplies in Texas and Louisiana before shipping them from the offshore platform.
The Department of Transportation says direct loading of VLCCs in deep water could ease congestion at inland ports and reduce the risk of vessel collisions and safety hazards. The project could also support up to 1,052 jobs during construction. The department links the ability to receive these tankers to stronger U.S. capacity to export crude in large volumes. It describes the job figure as a supported maximum, not employment already achieved. The operational impact depends on construction of the facility and the dedicated infrastructure to transport crude to it.
The department places the approval within its record of regulatory decisions: the Maritime Administration’s chief said the license is the fourth for a deepwater port approved by the current administration. At the same time, the department describes Blue Marlin as the second crude export facility to receive approval since the executive order on "Unleashing American Energy." The two descriptions measure different groups: deepwater port licenses overall, and crude export facilities since the executive order. The application review involved the U.S. Coast Guard, several federal agencies, and the states of Texas and Louisiana. The MARAD-2020-0127 file contains the decision record and documents related to the review.
The approval followed other regulatory steps related to the project. In October 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency was still seeking public comments on proposed air permits and had set October 29 as the date for a hearing and the end of the comment period. The agency said the permits, if approved, could allow exports of about 80,000 barrels an hour, equivalent to about 605 million barrels a year. The agency presented this figure as a potential volume if the proposed permits were approved, not as actual exports. In 2023, Energy Transfer announced a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with TotalEnergies to market 4 million barrels a month through the project. The agreement was contingent on a final investment decision and the execution of definitive agreements, according to the company’s announcement.
The move comes as OPEC+ monitors market conditions and its outlook. The seven participating countries met virtually on November 1 and decided to keep December 2026 production at the level required for September 2026. If it proceeds to construction and operation, the Blue Marlin project would offer a potential additional route for U.S. crude exports, while the OPEC+ decision concerned the group’s production level in a later month. The Department of Transportation did not specify a start date for construction or operations in its announcement. The seven participating OPEC+ countries are scheduled to meet again on November 29, 2026, to review market conditions. That meeting remains the next announced market review in the information available on the decision.