The US Maritime Administration (MARAD) has approved a deepwater port licence for Blue Marlin Offshore Port, a roughly $1 billion crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico being developed by an affiliate of Energy Transfer, gCaptain reported. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the approval on 5 November.
Built for VLCCs
- Location: about 99 miles off Cameron Parish, Louisiana, in West Cameron Block 509.
- Capacity: up to 2 million barrels of crude a day, with a maximum loading rate of 80,000 barrels an hour.
- Ships: designed so Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) can load directly in deep water instead of at congested inland ports.
- Infrastructure: existing and converted offshore platforms, linked by a dedicated pipeline network to the Nederland terminal area in Texas and other inland crude hubs.
- Jobs: up to 1,052 construction jobs, according to the US Department of Transportation.
Six years in review
The application was first filed in October 2020. MARAD and the US Coast Guard completed the final environmental impact statement earlier this year, and the Environmental Protection Agency proposed air permits in October. MARAD says moving loading farther offshore can reduce vessel collision risks. No construction start or completion date has been announced.
It is the fourth deepwater port cleared under the Trump administration and the second crude export project approved since a January 2025 executive order on American energy, after an $8.2 billion LNG project off Texas was approved the week before.
The approval comes as US Gulf Coast refiners and exporters benefit from high tanker freight rates: US refiners cash in as soaring tanker rates squeeze Asian competitors.
Source: gCaptain, 5 November 2026. Photo: file image of the existing Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, not the Blue Marlin project.
