The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has approved a license application for a new deepwater port off the coast of Texas, with the capacity to move more than one million barrels of oil a day. 

The USDOT said the port will be located roughly 27 miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas, and will come paired with a shoreside support facility at Freeport Harbor. The project — known officially as the Texas GulfLink Deepwater Port — was first proposed in 2019, but had been stuck, awaiting final authorization from the USDOT's Maritime Administration (MARAD). According to MARAD, there is currently only one deepwater port for oil in the U.S., the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, 18 miles off the coast of Louisiana. There are two more awaiting approval from Marad — the Bluewater SPM Deepwater Port (DWP), approximately 25 miles offshore from the Port of Corpus Christi, and Seaport Oil Terminal (SPOT) Deepwater Port, a proposed offshore platform to be located approximately 35 miles off the coast of Brazoria County, both in Texas.

"Today, we are unleashing the full power of American energy,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. "With this approval, we are increasing our energy revenue and unlocking our vast oil resources — not just for domestic security, but to dominate the global market."

Dallas-based crude oil company Sentinel Midstream will construct, own and operate the deepwater port, which will be able to load up to 85,000 barrels of crude oil an hour onto oil tankers.