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Chevron deepens Empire berth by three feet; added throughput remains an estimate

Chevron says the Empire berth now matches the 53-foot shipping route and expects 522,000 additional barrels of monthly throughput. The estimate is not a realized export total or retail fuel-price forecast.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 12, 2026 · Updated 10/12/2026

Chevron says a berth-deepening project at its Empire Terminal in Louisiana has increased the available depth from 50 feet to 53 feet. The company's October 12 account describes removing a physical loading constraint, not adding three feet to every part of the Mississippi River shipping route.

The terminal connects offshore production with refineries, pipelines, storage and transport. Ships reached the terminal through the Mississippi River Southwest Pass, where the route offered 53 feet of water. The berth at which they loaded crude offered only 50 feet. Chevron says the difference meant large ships left with less cargo than their full capacity allowed.

The company explains the constraint through draft: a ship sits deeper in the water as cargo weight increases. Matching the berth's depth to the route can therefore permit more cargo loading. The primary account supports that specific terminal mechanism, not a claim that all Gulf Coast ports have expanded.

Chevron says the three-foot change is expected to unlock an additional 522,000 barrels per month of throughput. That is a company estimate of potential additional movement. It is not a measured monthly production increase, barrels already exported or a guarantee that the full increment will occur every month.

The announcement does not establish a retail gasoline-price effect. Terminal loading capacity, crude production, refinery output and consumer fuel prices are different measures. The brief does not infer one from another.

Limits: the cited source is Chevron's own account, not an independent throughput audit. Its short public description does not supply a measured utilization series or a before-and-after realized export total. The verified news is the described berth change and the company's expected capacity effect, with the forecast kept separate from delivered volume.

Official source: chevron.com ↗