MCALLEN, Texas – Eduardo A. Campirano, port director for Brownsville Navigation District, was keynote speaker at a recent luncheon hosted by the South Texas Manufacturers Association.
In his remarks, Campirano spoke, naturally, about NextDecade’s plans to build an $11.4 billion export terminal for liquefied natural gas at the Port of Brownsville. “This is the one everybody asks me about, all the time,” he said, referring to the LNG project.
Campirano said NextDecade has a permit to produce 27 million tons of LNG for export. “That puts them on par with the largest LNG producer in the United States which right now is Cheniere, Sabine Pass.”
Campirano said around 6,000 construction jobs would be created. “That’s going to hit us all. That isn’t going to be a Brownsville thing. It’s going to be a Valley thing,” he said.
An announcement on the project could come soon, Campirano said. “I’m almost giddy about when the big announcement is going to come that this thing is going forward.”
In his presentation, Campirano also spoke about shipbuilding at the port, steel exports to a Kia plant in Monterrey, Mexico, and an increase in business for wind turbines.
Editor’s Note: Here is a video of Campirano’s remarks at the South Texas Manufacturers Association meeting:
Video
Campirano on NextDecade
Editor’s Note: Here is everything Eddie Campirano said about plans for a NextDecade LNG export terminal at the Port of Brownsville:
“This is the one everybody asks me about, all the time. And I’m just going to tell you this. I was telling somebody, Maribel, because, of course, she’s there, she’s watching it. I’m almost giddy about when the big announcement is going to come that this thing is going forward. I mean we’ve only been working on for at least ten years. Oh, by the way, we’ve been working on the channel deepening for 15. And that’s quick, according to the federal government.
“So this project is a huge project for the region. You know, you’ve seen Eagle Ford, and we have heard about Eagle Ford. You see what Eagle Ford did for Corpus Christi. I mean, it just transformed the Port of Corpus. And I tell people, you know, we’ve been on the fringes watching all of that. We weren’t in the middle of that. We were just sitting here watching, maybe we would get some little trickle here and there.
“Well guess what? We’re bypassing Eagle Ford and we’re going straight into the global market for energy, because all of this (liquefied natural gas) is going to be for export.
“And this project here… (it has) been in the works… I really believe we’re going to see some huge news come out of that in the very, very near future. Which actually means we’re going forward with the project.
“A little bit (about the project). You know, this is an $11.4 billion investment. That’s just the first part of the project. Now tell me how often has the Valley even been this in the discussion for a project of this nature? Never. We never have.
“In fact, the first multibillion dollar project happened and was completed in 2018 in the Valley and nobody really said anything. It was done without fanfare. And that was the Valley Crossing pipeline project that came from Agua Dulce, through the port and going and delivering gas to Mexico. That was a $1.8 billion project. That was the first major industrial project of that nature… went on without fanfare. Well, this one is going to be hard to keep under wraps. I’ll tell you that right now.
“And what does it mean? Well, you know, this is their deal about how it looks (points to powerpoint). This is what I kind of look at: what’s the impact to the area here and here. This number basically means that those jobs that will be created and a lot of them will be here, that’s a 20-year plus man life for those jobs. And this is only phase one, you know they have a permit to produce 27 million tons of LNG to export. That puts them on par with the largest LNG producer in the United States which right now is Cheniere, Sabine Pass. And so this is just the first phase of development.
“If they build out to that 27 million… this work deal has a five- to eight-year life. And that peak, we expect to see, according to Bechtel, who is the EPC that’s just ready to go on that project, that is 6,000 construction jobs. That’s going to hit us all. That isn’t going to be a Brownsville thing. It’s going to be a Valley thing. It’s going to be much greater than that. So we can’t wait for this. And I’m sure a lot of people in this room can’t wait for it either.”
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