A Tale of Two Cities: Assessing the comparative advantages of Houston & Corpus Christi crude hubs

After decades of Houston serving as the epicenter of the US Gulf Coast (USGC) crude value chain, shifting legislation and trade flows have brought about change. Since the US ban on crude exports was lifted in late 2015, Corpus Christi has claimed the lion’s share of booming export growth across the USGC. In recent years, Corpus Christi has attracted substantial midstream investment to more efficiently open global markets to Permian supply, catapulting the hub into prime position for tidewater access for US barrels. The core question we are most often asked: How will the Houston and Corpus Christi hubs evolve in the decade to come with ~1.5 million b/d of export growth projected from 2022 levels into the 2030s? In this report, we assess our various forecasts to shed light on how the roles of Houston and Corpus Christi will develop through the decades as new norms and roles are cemented.