US oil export infrastructure faces post-boom bust
Previous anxieties over lack of infrastructure have been replaced with fears of looming overcapacity
Unbuilt US oil export terminal projects proposed in recent years are stuck in limbo, their prospects for construction bleak. And while capacity at existing terminals has continued to grow, oil flows into and through these facilities have been unable to match the expansion. This is a distinct turnaround from twelve months ago, when there were concerns about crude bottlenecks on the Gulf Coast and a lack of capacity to accommodate booming exports. Global energy demand destruction sparked by the pandemic has upended all forecasts and turned the problem dramatically on its head. The flurry of new deepwater crude terminal proposals kicked off in 2018 as developers scrambled to provide new capacit
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
