Corpus Christi, TX, USA – The Port of Corpus Christi’s Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP) received additional support from bipartisan Members of the Texas Congressional Delegation in a recent letter sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) urging that more funds be designated to it this year. U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady, Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee, Mike Conaway, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Mac Thornberry, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Lamar Smith, Chairman of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, Henry Cuellar, Filemon Vela, Vicente Gonzalez and Blake Farenthold see an opportunity for the USACE to use additional discretionary funds provided by Congress in the Omnibus spending package to complement the $32 million the Port accelerated to the USACE per the Project Partnership Agreement last year.

Providing sufficient funding this year will allow the Galveston District (SWG) to execute the first two contracts for the CIP.  As noted in the letter, the CIP will expand the Port’s ship channels, allowing more – and larger – supertankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels to navigate the channel safely, affording American energy companies the ability to continue the expansion of U.S. energy exports abroad.

“Funding the CIP is an opportunity to invest in a national transportation asset that would allow U.S. companies and the Port of Corpus Christi to significantly increase export capacity and help solidify the U.S. as a world energy leader,” the letter read.

“We are appreciative of the Texas Delegation’s support,” said Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge. “In addition to facilitating the export of significant volumes of U.S. crude oil and petroleum products, and the nearby Corpus Christi LNG facility coming online this year, there are $50 billion in industrial projects underway in South Texas, including new pipeline projects connecting the Port to the Permian Basin, the nation’s largest shale play. The rise in U.S. energy has been a boon for the U.S. and Texas economies, and the Port of Corpus Christi is proud to play the role of the nation’s leading energy port.”