Richardson, Texas – November 30, 2020 – Sentinel Midstream LLC, through its subsidiary Texas GulfLink, LLC, announced today that the United States Coast Guard and United States Maritime Administration have released Texas GulfLink’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”). This is a critical step in the regulatory process toward receiving a license to operate a deepwater port. Texas GulfLink is a planned deepwater crude oil export facility, to be located off the coast of Freeport, Texas, that will be capable of fully loading Very Large Crude Carrier (“VLCC”) tankers.
“The Texas GulfLink team has been actively working with the United States Maritime Administration and the United States Coast Guard to timely address questions and provide additional information relevant to the DEIS. We are pleased with the release of the DEIS, which represents a major milestone in our goal of obtaining a deepwater port license. Recognizing these are challenging times for the energy industry, we strongly believe that the energy market will recover as global demand stabilizes and that Texas GulfLink will be uniquely positioned to benefit from this recovery. It will address the current VLCC loading limitations off the Texas coast by offering a more safe, reliable, and economic crude oil movement solution,” said Sentinel Midstream President and CEO Jeff Ballard. “We believe Texas GulfLink is the infrastructure that is needed for the US to link domestic crude oil supply with global markets, especially through chartered VLCCs bound for Asia.”
“In addition,” Ballard continued, “Texas GulfLink will allow for more efficient loading of VLCC’s, which will significantly reduce overall emissions, including carbon and other greenhouse gases, by approximately 80% when compared to the cumulative effects of reverse lightering, the current ship-to-ship transfer practice off the Texas Coast.” “Another advantage for Texas GulfLink,” Ballard added, “is that it will reduce congestion in shore-based ports, delivering additional environmental and safety benefits. All of these factors lead us to believe that Texas GulfLink will be a major step forward for US crude oil exports and a driving factor toward a low-carbon emissions future.”
Texas GulfLink will include an onshore oil storage terminal connected by a 42” pipeline to a manned offshore platform approximately 30 miles off the Gulf Coast. From the platform, the crude oil will be transported to two Single Point Mooring buoys to allow for VLCCs to receive up to two million barrels of crude oil with loading rates up to 85,000 barrels per hour. Designed with safety in mind, the offshore platform will have around-the-clock monitoring, which will provide shippers with a safe and reliable mooring operation for VLCCs and other crude oil tankers.
About Sentinel Midstream
Sentinel Midstream is headquartered in Richardson, Texas, offering first-class midstream solutions for crude oil transportation, storage, and terminalling. Sentinel’s management has a successful track record of unlocking value for customers by creating tailored commercial solutions. Sentinel is backed by Cresta Fund Management, a middle-market infrastructure firm focused on investing in hard assets that transport, store, process or sequester basic materials. For more information, please visit www.sentinelmidstream.com and www.texasgulflink.com.
Phone: 214.613.3493 and email: info@sentinelmidstream.com
Texas GulfLink Contacts
Public Relations & Media: info@sentinelmidstream.com
Vendor & Contractor: Vendorinquiry@sentinelmidstream.com
Regulatory & Permitting: Regulatoryinquiry@sentinelmidstream.com