CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Leaders at this year’s State of the Port address reflected on a year of economic growth and outlined a vision for continued expansion that could shape the Coastal Bend’s economy for decades to come.
With the deepening of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel completed in June and the construction of the new Harbor Bridge nearing completion, Port officials say the region is poised for new opportunities — from expanded energy exports to entirely new types of shipping.
“We have to have more pipeline capacity down here. Two of the three main pipelines that come to Corpus Christi from West Texas are expandable, so we’re hoping to see the investment from those companies to expand those pipelines in the next few years and we’ll continue to move that crude oil. But there’s lots of other things available now to us because of the deeper channel and higher bridge capacity and so we’ll be taking a look at container ships for example. Seeing if there’s a market there,” said Kent Britton, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi…