Port of Corpus Christi — Is it as good as it sounds?

I am fascinated by the story of the growth of Port of Corpus Christi — an oil and gas focused port city — which is seeing an economic boom in the slummed oil and gas economy. Port of Corpus Christi is multiplying and has attracted foreign direct investment in the port. The Port of Corpus Christi is not a container port, but an energy hub. It is a port that serves three oil refineries and also has two-grain elevators. It is situated between the Parmian Base and Eagle Ford, the two largest oil and gas “fields” in the US. It has also benefited with the change in legislation that now allows oil exports to countries other than Canada.
The port authority expects that there will be an investment more than US$50 billion in the city. A large part of the investment is in the rail yard, which would serve the industries around the port area. The port is attracting foreign investment from European, Asian and Middle Eastern companies, and the main attraction is not shale gas but the low prices of natural gas. The manufacturers are finding the low natural gas prices attractive for their growth.
There are plans to grow both manufacturing, petrochemical processing and terminals around the port. The port authority is investing its own funds in building the infrastructure (primarily dredging the shipping channel) and not waiting for the federal funding to arrive. If the federal funding is not received then, it would mean that the port authority would have spent this money without a way to recovering it. The port authority hopes that the President’s infrastructure fund/proposal would focus on the port.
There is no doubt that Port of Corpus Christi offers a unique investment opportunity for both the local and foreign investors as it does appear to be a unicorn among the cedars in the current low-price-oil economy. However, the city has previously seen the bust of the oil economy, and there are concerns that this may happen again. The city planners are mindful of this phenomena and are looking to diversify the economy to include other industries like tourism in the growth mix of the city.
Any foreign investors looking to invest in the port should be mindful of various legal, regulatory and tax concerns associated with investing in the United States. They should also consider the fact that the growth of the city is primarily due to the petrochemical industry, and many factors can impact such growth like a change in the price of oil and gas, as well as the increase in renewable energy.
