Posted on June 28, 2021
Corpus Christi (Nueces County) — In the 16 months since Phillips 66 and Trafigura Group pte. Ltd. announced the formation of a joint venture to build an offshore deepwater port near Corpus Christi Bay the stakeholders have kept busy meeting the demands of a federal permitting process that includes an extensive inquiry into the environmental impacts.
The Port of Corpus Christi Authority (POCCA), acting as the official host port, is also a participant in the planning and will play a role in an ambitious dredging operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
The joint venture company, Bluewater Texas Terminal LLC, submitted an application May 2019 to the federal Maritime Administration (MARAD) and U.S. Coast Guard for a license to own, construct and operate a deepwater port. The application was declared complete in June 2019, however, in November 2019 the MARAD suspended the regulatory timeline for the port license application.
The timeline suspension gave Bluewater Texas time to submit additional information to complete the project’s Environmental Impact Statement. In the months that followed, Trafigura Group withdrew from its own plans for a deepwater port and joined the Phillips 66 venture.
On Aug. 7, 2020, a Federal Register notice was published announcing the receipt of project scope changes. That project scope is reprinted below, but first we will discuss the port authority’s related activity.
On Dec. 15, 2020, the POCCA Port Commission approved a lease agreement and related pipeline easement for the Bluewater Texas Terminal LLC offshore deepwater port project. The lease agreement defines the commercial terms with POCCA for Bluewater Texas to access existing pipeline corridors and port authority property for the project.
Bluewater Texas would lease 12 non-waterfront acres for an operations facility on Harbor Island, to include an office and equipment for inspection, monitoring and communications.
Related to that action and also occurring on Dec. 15, 2020, the POCCA Port Commission approved a $1,047,290 service order with AECOM Technical Services Inc. for “additional tasks” related to the Environmental Impact Statement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the port’s 75-foot Deepening Project from the Gulf of Mexico to Harbor Island. AECOM was already on the project through much of 2020 and that December service order was to provide a final set of drafts by January 2021. However, AECOM’s overall participation would continue to May 2022.
The port authority asked for permit authorization from the USACE to conduct dredge and fill to deepen a portion of the existing Corpus Christi Ship Channel, as well as a 5.5 miles extension of the ship channel to the natural minus 80-foot bathymetric contour in the Gulf of Mexico. The project would deepen the channel from the western portion of Harbor Island into the gulf, an overall distance of approximately 13.8 miles.
“The project is needed to accommodate the transit of fully laden VLCCs (Very large Crude Carriers), which draft approximately 70 feet. The deepening activities would be completed within the footprint of the authorized Corpus Christi Ship Channel width,” the port staff report stated.
The port’s proposed dredging project is in line with Bluewater Texas’ needs, since their inland infrastructure would be on Harbor Island and their pipeline for the deepwater port would extend about 21 miles into the gulf.
Bluewater Texas’ Revised Project (August 2020) — Onshore Components
Onshore components are those components on the landward side of the western Redfish Bay Mean High Tide (MHT) line located in San Patricio and Aransas Counties.
Under the original project scope, the onshore components included an area that was approximately 22.20 miles of two new parallel 30-inch-diameter crude oil pipelines extending from a planned multi-use terminal located south of the City of Taft. The planned multi-use terminal consisted of multiple inbound and outbound crude oil pipelines. Two of those outbound pipelines composed the proposed pipeline infrastructure that would extend to the inshore pipeline, which would connect to the proposed Harbor Island Booster Station.
Under the revised project scope, the onshore components now proposed will include an area that is approximately 22.13 miles of two new parallel 30-inch-diameter crude oil pipelines extending from a planned multi-use terminal located south of Taft. The planned Multi-Use Terminal will connect to multiple inbound and outbound crude oil pipelines. Two of those outbound pipelines are the proposed pipeline infrastructure that will extend to the inshore pipeline, which will connect to the proposed operation facility located on Harbor Island. One water tank will be constructed at the Multi-Use Terminal to flush the offshore pipelines running to the Single Point Moorings.
Inshore Components
Inshore components are those components located between the western Redfish Bay MHT line and the MHT line located at the interface of San Jose Island and the Gulf of Mexico.
Under the original project scope, the inshore components included an area of about 7.15 miles of two new 30-inch-diameter crude oil pipelines connecting to the onshore facility, an approximately 19-acre booster station and a connection to the offshore pipeline. The onshore pipeline would have been located within San Patricio County and Nueces County, and the Booster Station would have been located on Harbor Island in Nueces County.
Under the revised project scope, the inshore components now proposed will include an area that is approximately 7.29 miles of two new 30-inch diameter crude oil pipelines connecting to the onshore facility, an approximately 12-acre operations station and a connection to the offshore pipeline. The onshore pipeline will be located within San Patricio County and Nueces County, and a proposed operations facility will be located on Harbor Island in Nueces County.
The Booster Station will include approximately 19 acres of land with two above ground crude oil storage tanks, each with a total storage capacity of 181,000 barrels and two 181,000-barrel water storage tanks. The purpose of water tanks is to allow for the clearing of the pipeline infrastructure. During clearing operations, water from the water storage tanks will be pumped through the pipelines and back to the Booster Station.
The displaced crude oil will be placed in the two crude oil storage tanks. Additionally, the Booster Station will contain equipment and piping to provide interconnectivity with the crude oil supply network for the Bluewater project. This will include the installation of four 5,500 horsepower electrically powered motors in a series electronically locked into operation as two booster pumping systems delivering approximately 11,000 horsepower to each of the two 30-inch diameter pipelines.
Further, the Booster Station will house the necessary infrastructure to support the transport of crude oil through the proposed pipeline infrastructure to the deepwater port for the loading of moored vessels to include a fire water tank, firewater pumps, storm water runoff treatment plant and pumps, emergency generator, foam and water monitors and an operations office.
The operations facility located on Harbor Island will include approximately 12 acres of land and house the necessary infrastructure to support the transport of crude oil through the proposed pipeline infrastructure to the deepwater port for the loading of moored vessels. The facility will consist of pig launchers/receivers, meters and valves, operations building, and communications facility.
Offshore Components
Offshore components are those components located seaward of the MHT line located at the interface of San Jose Island and the Gulf of Mexico.
Under the original project scope, the offshore components included an area that was approximately 27.13 miles of two new 30-inch-diameter crude oil pipelines extending from the shoreline crossing at the interface of San Jose Island to the offshore Bluewater deepwater port for crude oil delivery to Single Point Mooring (SPM) buoys.
Under the revised project scope, the offshore components now proposed include:
• An area that is approximately 26.76 miles of two new 30-inch-diameter crude oil pipelines extending from the shoreline crossing at the interface of San Jose Island to the offshore Bluewater deepwater port for crude oil delivery to SPM buoys.
• Two SPMs in Outer Continental Shelf Matagorda Island Area TX4 lease blocks 698 and 699, approximately 15 nautical miles (17.26 statute miles) off the coast of San Patricio County in a water depth of approximately 89 feet.
• A catenary anchor leg mooring system for each SPM buoy connected to a pipeline end manifold system, mooring hawsers, floating hoses, and submarine hoses to allow for the loading of crude oil to vessels moored at the proposed deepwater port. The SPM buoy system will be permanently moored with a symmetrically arranged six-leg anchor dual chain configuration extending to twelve 72-inch-diameter pile anchors installed on the seafloor.
• Each of the proposed SPM buoy systems will consist of inner and outer cylindrical shells subdivided into twelve equal-sized watertight radial compartments. A rotating table will be affixed to the SPM buoy and allow for the connection of moored vessels to the SPM buoy system via mooring hawsers. Two floating hoses equipped with marine break-away couplings will be utilized for the transfer of crude oil from the SPM buoy systems to the moored vessel. Floating hoses will be equipped with strobe lights at 15-foot intervals for detection at night and low-light conditions.
