A planned offshore crude oil export port in the United States, near the state of Louisiana, has received federal approval, with the project expected to support 1,052 construction jobs.
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) approved the deepwater port licence application for Blue Marlin Offshore Port, a USD1 billion project that could export up to two million barrels of crude oil per day, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Thursday.
The facility, which was developed by an affiliate of Energy Transfer, will be located about 99 miles off Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Expanding US crude export
It is designed to load some of the world’s largest oil tankers directly at a deepwater port in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Building this port will unleash domestic production, create more than 1,000 good-paying construction jobs along the Gulf of America and open vital supply lines to global markets,” Duffy said, according to a report by GCaptain.
Capable of handling Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), the port will also enable the vessels to load crude in deep waters rather than using more congested inland terminals.
Additionally, the facility will have a maximum loading rate of 80,000 barrels per hour.
The project will also make use of existing and converted offshore platform infrastructure, linking the facilities to crude oil supply hubs in Texas and southwest Louisiana through dedicated pipeline connections.
MARAD said the offshore terminal could expand US crude export capacity while potentially lowering vessel collision risks by reducing the need for large tankers to travel through busy coastal waterways.
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Fourth deepwater project
The approval marks the fourth deepwater port project cleared under the Trump administration after the USD8.2 billion ST LNG project approved last week, as well as the Texas GulfLink crude oil export project and the Delfin LNG off Louisiana.
“Authorising the Blue Marlin deepwater port license… demonstrates our ability to safely accelerate critical energy projects that bolster our supply chains and lower energy prices,” MARAD Administrator Stephen M Carmel said in a report published by the US Department of Transportation.
Blue Marlin is also the second crude oil export project approved since President Donald Trump issued his “Unleashing American Energy” executive order in January 2025.
Its approval follows a federal review involving the US Coast Guard, other agencies and the states of Louisiana and Texas.
The project’s application was first submitted in October 2020, with MARAD and the Coast Guard completing a final environmental impact statement earlier this year, according to GCaptain.
No construction start date or end timeline for the project has been announced.
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Wendellyn Mateo 
Lucia Caporalini