How a Regional Gulf Coast Port Became America's Crude Oil Export Capital

Three decades ago, I had just graduated from Texas A&M University and taken my first job as a chemical engineer in Corpus Christi, Texas.

At the time, few people would have expected that this Gulf Coast city would one day sit at the center of the global energy system.

Corpus was an important regional hub—refineries, chemical plants, steady industrial activity—but it wasn't viewed as a strategic asset on the world stage.

Today, it is exactly that.

The Port of Corpus Christi has become the largest crude oil export hub in the United…