Sentinel Midstream received crucial federal approval for a deepwater crude export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, the company announced Feb. 18.

The Dallas-based midstream company’s Texas GulfLink project received a record of decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration approving Sentinel’s deepwater port license application.

There are four similar projects currently proposed in the Gulf of Mexico; Sentinel is the second to receive a permit. Enterprise Products Partners received the first in April 2024.

Sentinel, backed by Cresta Fund Management, plans to continue working with the Maritime Administration and Coast Guard to bring the project to fruition. As planned, the Texas GulfLink will deliver crude primarily to very large crude carriers (VLCCs). At capacity, the facility will be able to load 2 MMbbl/d of crude.

The platform’s planned location is 30 miles off the Texas Gulf Coast, south of Freeport. The advantage of the project is that it allows ships to skip the process of docking in one of the crowded ship channels along the Gulf Coast.

The announcement follows the White House’s executive order, “Unleashing American Energy,” issued on Jan. 20.

Prior to Sentinel’s announcement, East Daley Analytics predicted the approval of the Gulf projects to be one of the first results of President Donald Trump’s executive order.

Sentinel’s announcement included a statement from U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

The ROD “opens the floodgates for American oil exports, putting our producers in the driver’s seat and ensuring that the world looks to the United States—not foreign adversaries—for energy supply,” Duffy said.

Enterprise received its permit for its Sea Port Oil Terminal last year, after going through a five-year application process. The process took so long that Enterprise co-CEO Jim Teague said the project had lost one of its primary customers and faced an uncertain future.

“The process we went through due to federal bureaucracy pushed us beyond the drop-dead date that allowed our anchor customer to opt out of their contract, which they did,” Teague said during Enterprise’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Feb. 4.

The other two projects still waiting on a permit include Energy Transfer’s Blue Marlin Offshore Port and Phillips 66 (PSX) and Trafigura’s Blue Water.

In its announcement, Sentinel said its independent position would give the company more flexibility with potential customers during development.

Sentinel CEO Jeff Ballard thanked the group of people who worked on the project permitting for Texas GulfLink.

“Because of the team’s efforts, Texas GulfLink is now well positioned to capitalize on strong market interest and advance as the premier offshore crude oil export facility in the United States,” he said.

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