Abby CoppingerOklahoma may be a landlocked state, but the Tulsa Port of Catoosa allows the export of goods, including petroleum products, to world markets.
In the 1960s, Tulsa business leaders formed the City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority, which oversaw the constructing of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, to stimulate business and industrial growth.
The port was opened in 1970, with the first barge carrying newsprint paper from Tennessee. Today, the 2,000-acre Port of Catoosa is the largest port along the 25,000-mile Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and it carries much more than newsprint.
An average of 2.7 million tons passes through the port each year. In 2015, Oklahoma’s waterborne commerce topped a value of $2.2 billion. That same year, the port shipped 528,361 tons of petroleum products worth nearly half a billion.
Having a valid port doesn’t make a city a major port city. It takes dozens of companies, thousands of workers and products that are in demand across the country and the world. Luckily, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa has all of those in spades.
The port hosts more than 3,000 workers employed by a diverse set of 70 companies, many of which are manufacturers directly tied to the oil and natural gas industry.
“Locating our fabrication facility at the Port of Catoosa has enhanced Linde’s ability to cost-competitively deliver modularized gas processing plants and refinery equipment to a wider geographical area with lower transportation costs,” says Carlos Conerly, president of the Natural Gas Division for Linde Engineering North America. “We’re proud of the contribution our business makes to the growth of the oil and gas industry here in Oklahoma and beyond — from jobs to energy independence.”
Through the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, Oklahoma energy production can benefit the entire world while boosting the state’s economy through international trade. In 2011, the port made history by becoming the first port to ship crude oil out to the Gulf of Mexico when oil prices were high and it was profitable for companies to ship using the waterway.
Whether it’s through creating jobs or helping companies reach global consumers, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa is vital to Oklahoma’s economy and its oil and natural gas industry.
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