Sentinel Midstream LLC, a Dallas-based provider of crude oil midstream solutions, announced in February 2025 that its “Texas GulfLink” deepwater crude oil export terminal has received its Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration approving its deepwater port license application. The ROD concludes a multi-year environmental and technical review of Texas GulfLink’s application during which multiple draft environmental impact statements were published and several public hearings held. The ROD considers the comments of multiple federal and state agencies and thousands more received from the public throughout the review period.
Located approximately 30 miles off Brazoria County along the Texas Gulf Coast, Texas GulfLink’s proposed deepwater crude oil export terminal will cater to Very Large Crude Carriers, setting a new standard for crude loading efficiency. The terminal will substantially reduce costs, improve vessel traffic in crowded U.S. Gulf Coast ship channels, and reduce air emissions associated with lightering operations—delivering tangible benefits to customers and coastal communities alike. Additionally, Texas GulfLink will employ state-of-the-art vapor recovery technology, further improving its environmental profile.
Texas GulfLink will immediately turn its attention to satisfying the license conditions to bring this transformative project to fruition.
Sentinel is a Dallas-based provider of midstream energy solutions to producers of crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and other petroleum products.
Sentinel’s affiliated companies operate crude oil transportation systems in Texas and Louisiana. Backed by Cresta Fund Management, a Dallas-based private equity firm specializing in middle market energy infrastructure, Sentinel is the parent company of the deepwater port license applicant, Texas GulfLink, LLC. For more information, please visit sentinelmidstream.com and texasgulflink.com.
Blue Marlin Initiates Deepwater Port License Application
Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Maritime Administration announce the continuation of regulatory proceedings for the BMOP LLC (BMOP–“Blue Marlin Offshore Port”) deepwater port license application for the export of oil from the United States to nations abroad. For more information on those activities, click HERE.
The BMOP application proposes the ownership, construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning of an offshore oil export deepwater port that would be located within and adjacent to the Outer Continental Shelf in West Cameron Lease Blocks 509 and 508 and East Cameron Block 263.
Following the existing Stingray pipeline, the deep water port will be approximately 99 statute miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, with an approximate water depth of 162 feet. The deepwater port would allow for loading Very Large Crude Carriers and other sized crude oil cargo carriers via a Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring.
About Guice Offshore Oil and Gas Vessels
Since the late 1940s, oil and gas companies have explored the U.S. Continental Shelf and International waters for hydrocarbons. Since that time, tens of thousands of wells have been drilled and many hundreds of platforms erected in U.S. waters alone. Support vessels are a necessary and critical part of the offshore E&P environment and are utilized in almost every phase of the extraction process from survey and drilling to production and abandonment. Guice Offshore maintains a strong presence in the northern Gulf of America E&P sector; our vessels are most often employed in support of Platform and Pipeline Operations (production activities, logistics, diving, ROV, inspection, maintenance, repair, plug and abandonment), and we also participate in certain early exploration phases like surveying.
