The Tulsa Ports' primary facility is the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.[3] It is near the city of Catoosa in Rogers County, just inside the municipal fenceline of Tulsa. It encompasses an area of 2,500 acres (10km2) and employs over 4,000 people at over 70 companies in its industrial park.[4] The port ships manufactured goods and agricultural products from Oklahoma to the rest of the world.[5] Designated a foreign trade zone, it is a major economic engine for the region, with over 2.7 million tons of cargo shipped through the port in 2013 alone.[6]
History
The notion of making Tulsa a port city on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) evolved during the early 1960s, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was constructing the massive waterway. A delegation of 23 Tulsa businesspeople travelled to Ohio to evaluate the impact of the effects of the Ohio River Valley navigation systems on regional business growth. They concluded that it would stimulate business in Oklahoma, and convinced other Tulsa business leaders to support the concept. The Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce appointed Early Cass to chair a committee, thereafter known as the City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority.[7]
The port received its first commercial shipment in January 1971,[7] It was officially opened for business on February 20, 1970, and was formally dedicated by President Richard M. Nixon on June 5, 1971.[8] This port is the largest in Oklahoma. It is also one of the largest, farthest-inland river ports in the United States.[9] It is located 8 miles (13km) from the Tulsa International Airport and 15 miles (24km) from downtown Tulsa. It is a fully equipped, multimodal transportation center served by both the BNSF Railroad and the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad. The port also provides rail switching services, known as the Port of Catoosa Industrial Railroad,[10] using three dedicated, port-owned switch engines. The railroad's operation was turned over to OmniTRAX in August 2022.[10]
In 1971, the first full year of operation, the port handled 86,654 tons of cargo. In 2013, it handled over 2.7 million tons.[11] In addition to the many private terminals for grain, fertilizer, and break-bulk cargo located along the port channel, the port operates a 200-ton capacity overhead crane and a roll-on/roll-off dock.
In 2016, the port added a new 720-ft dock accommodating a rail line and multiple cranes.[12]
Low Water Wharf
In 2020, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration for railroad-crossing repairs, freight-rail infrastructure, and interchange improvements at the multimodal shipping complex and industrial park.[13] On Thursday 24 September 2020, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa was rebranded to Tulsa Ports.[14][15]
Facilities
The port has five public terminals that can transfer inbound and outbound bulk freight between barges, trucks, and railroad cars.
Dry cargo terminals are owned by Tulsa Port of Catoosa. The dry break bulk cargo dock is operated by Tuloma Stevedoring, Inc. and primarily handles commodity iron and steel products. The dock is 720 feet (220m) long with a 230-foot (70m) wide concrete apron, and has various cranes and forklifts. It also features a 200-short-ton (180t) overhead traveling bridge crane.[16]
Dry bulk freight terminal is a public terminal operated by Gavilon Fertilizer LLC, and which can handle materials ranging from pig iron to fertilizer. This terminal has two pedestal cranes and an outbound conveyor loading system. Both open and covered storage areas are available.[17]
Roll-on/Roll-off (RO - RO) low water wharf or "Project Cargo" is a public wharf operated by the Port Authority very large cargo (e.g. certain process equipment used in oil refineries. Often these cannot be shipped easily by truck or rail because of their weight or their overall dimensions. Sometimes these are shipped internationally by sea, and must be transferred to or from ocean-going vessels at the Port of Houston or the Port of New Orleans).[18]
Bulk liquids terminals handle such commodities as chemicals, asphalt, refined petroleum products and molasses. There are seven such terminals at the Port.[19]
Tulsa Port of Inola
Tulsa Ports’ Inola facility, known as the Tulsa Port of Inola, is a 2,500 acre industrial park.[20] It has rail access to the Union Pacific, as well as barge access to MKARNS.[20] The first tenant, Sofidel, completed its manufacturing facility there in 2020.[20]
In September 2022, Tulsa Ports received the largest grant in its history, being $22.3 million from the federal government, toward the $27.9 million cost of the Port of Inola Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant.[21] The plant lays the foundation for industrial facilities which could likely provide 10,000 future jobs.[21]
In December 2022, the Port Authority announced a $15.76 million dollar rail project to rehabilitate existing track to connect the port and the Sofidel plant with the Union Pacific main line. The project included funding from Sofidel and the United States Department of Transportation.[22] The resulting Verdigris Southern Railroad opened in April of 2024.[23]
Further upgrades are planned.[24] As of December, 2023, an additional $150 million in infrastructure improvements were to be made to roads, water, and other utilities over the next two years.[24]
On May 22, 2023, an Enel subsidiary announced the Tulsa Port of Inola as the future site of one of the largest solar cell and panel manufacturing plants in the U.S.[25] Enel expected to invest over $1 billion in the 1.5 million square foot facility, creating 1,000 permanent jobs by 2025, with the possibility of creating another 900 in a second phase.[25][24] Oklahoma officials called this the biggest economic development project in the state's history.[25][24] However, as of May of 2025, those plans remained on hold.[26][27]
But an even larger development came about in May of 2025, when a $4 billion aluminum plant was announced for the Port.[27]Emirates Global Aluminium, a UAE company, said their facility would cover more than 350 acres at the Port, would produce billets and sheet ingots of high-purity aluminum and foundry alloys, and would be the largest such facility in the United States.[27]
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