MARAD Approves $1 Billion Offshore Crude Oil Export Port Off Louisiana

The Trump administration has approved a $1 billion offshore crude oil export project off the coast of Louisiana, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for a facility designed to load some of the world’s largest oil tankers directly in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday that the Maritime Administration (MARAD) has approved the deepwater port license application for Blue Marlin Offshore Port, a project capable of exporting up to 2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

The facility will be located approximately 99 miles off Cameron Parish, Louisiana, in West Cameron Block 509. The project, developed by an affiliate of Energy Transfer, will use existing and converted offshore platform infrastructure connected to crude oil supply hubs in Texas and southwest Louisiana.

Blue Marlin is designed to accommodate Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), allowing the massive tankers to load crude directly in deep water rather than relying on more congested inland port facilities. The system will have a maximum loading rate of 80,000 barrels per hour.

According to the Department of Transportation, the project is expected to support up to 1,052 construction jobs.

“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.

The approval is the fourth deepwater port project cleared under the Trump administration, following the Texas GulfLink crude oil export project, Delfin LNG off Louisiana, and the $8.2 billion ST LNG project approved off Texas last week. Blue Marlin is also the second crude oil export project approved since President Trump issued his Unleashing American Energy executive order in January 2025.

The decision comes as the administration moves to accelerate approvals for major offshore energy infrastructure projects. Just last week, MARAD announced approval of an $8.2 billion deepwater LNG export project off the Texas coast, saying changes to its licensing process had shortened the review timeline.

Unlike that project, Blue Marlin has been working through the federal approval process for years. Its initial application was submitted in October 2020, and MARAD and the U.S. Coast Guard completed the project’s final environmental impact statement earlier this year.

The offshore terminal will be supplied through a dedicated pipeline network connecting the Nederland Terminal area in Texas and other inland crude oil hubs to the offshore loading facility.

The project is intended to expand U.S. crude export capacity while reducing the need for large tankers to navigate congested coastal waterways. By moving loading operations farther offshore, MARAD says the facility could also reduce vessel collision risks.

MARAD Administrator Stephen Carmel said the approval demonstrated the agency’s ability to accelerate energy infrastructure development while maintaining safety standards.

The decision follows a review involving the Coast Guard, other federal agencies, and the states of Texas and Louisiana. Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed air permits for the facility in October.

The administration did not announce a construction start date or expected completion timeline for Blue Marlin.

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