Fourchon, Terrebonne ports vital economic cogs for region

Port Fourchon, at the mouth of Bayou Lafourche, and the Port of Terrebonne in Houma, located on the Houma Navigation Canal, are two different types of operations.

Fourchon is a cargo port, transferring commodities from ship to shore and vice versa, whereas the Port of Terrebonne is strictly a service facility.

Both are vital to the local economy, according to port officials.

Fifteen to 18 percent of the U.S. oil supply – or 675 million barrels of crude oil a year – passes through Fourchon, which consists of 800 developed acres and also functions as the land base for Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP).

A 700-acre expansion along the port’s northern border is nearly complete. Two slips have been constructed, and a third (7,000 feet long, 700 feet wide) is scheduled to be built.

Last year, 38 million tons of commodities were transferred at Fourchon, a 74 percent increase over the 22 million in 2005. Ninety-five percent of the tonnage was oil- and gas-related.

Around 270 large supply vessels can be seen at any time during the day at Fourchon, and approximately 15,000 people a month are taken to offshore sites supported by the port.

The Greater Lafourche Port Commission, the only elected port commission in Louisiana, has a $38 million budget for 2007. Forty-nine percent of the budget is generated by rental fees the commission charges to the 250-plus business tenants at the port.

Forty-two percent of the budget comes from federal and state grants, and seven percent derives from a property tax levied in Lafourche Parish’s 10th Ward.

The commission also owns the South Lafourche Leonard Miller, Jr. Airport, a general aviation facility, in Galliano.

But Port Fourchon has had to contend with one huge problem: La. Hwy 1, which is the only road leading to the port.

“La. 1 is the weakest link,” said Paula Schouest, public information coordinator for the port.

Around 1,800 18-wheelers a day travel into Port Fourchon, but land has eroded severely on both sides of the highway. In places, the road is only two feet above sea level.

The La. 1 Coalition, formed in 1997, has made strong efforts to improve the highway from U.S. 90 to the Gulf of Mexico. The coalition will pay for the upgrade by charging a toll along a section of the roadway.

The critical part of the Louisiana Highway 1 improvement plan is the Golden Meadow to Port Fourchon segment, which will be elevated.

A bridge at Leeville will be finished in 2009, but the state is still looking for funds to build the Leeville to Fourchon section. However, that section still has a projected completion date of 2011.

Business at Port Fourchon has grown drastically nevertheless, mostly for two reasons: the hurricanes of 2005 and new deepwater oil and gas discoveries in the Gulf.

A recent report stated, “The effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the financial revenues of the commission have actually been favorable. Fuel sales at the airport are five times greater than they were before the storms… No company left or relocated from Fourchon after the storms. In fact, severe impacts to ports in Venice and Cameron have led to many inquiries by potential tenants and have definitely added to the surge in development of the Northern Expansion Project.”

“Fourchon’s primary service market is domestic deepwater oil and gas exploration, drilling, and production in the Gulf of Mexico,” it states.

“We are the service base for new deepwater finds,” Schouest said. “From the federal Minerals and Management Service, Fourchon and surrounding areas – Leeville and Grand Isle – are going to be the service base for over 50 percent of new deepwater discoveries. That’s caused us to keep up with demand.”

No other port services more than 14 percent of deepwater projects, according to the report.

“The future of the port looks bright because our niche, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, is becoming even more active,” Port Commissioner Larry Griffin said in the report.

The Chevron Jack #2 well, located 175 miles from the Louisiana coast, will make the port shine especially bright.

The well taps into the largest U.S. oil discovery in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well, along with Jack #1 and a projected third well, is being serviced out of Port Fourchon.

“This discovery has great significance to this nation, and further accentuates the importance of coastal Louisiana and the need for funding to address coastal infrastructure and land loss issues,” said Commission President Donald Vizier in the report.

“At Port Fourchon, we can’t keep building fast enough,” Schouest said.

The Port of Terrebonne is building, too.

The 400-acre facility near the Intracoastal Waterway will start work in early 2008 on constructing the LA Ship shipyard for Edison Chouest, which will be the port’s largest tenant. Funding for Edison Chouest to build LA Ship came largely through federal Gulf Opportunity Zone money.

The port has fabrication yards, service sites for the oil and gas industry, and repair facilities for barges, among other services, but it does not handle cargo.

“Terrebonne Parish is an oilfield services hub,” said Port Executive Director David Rabalais. “The oil industry depends on the Intracoastal Waterway and the Houma Navigation Canal for its transportation. We work as a lifeline for the Gulf of Mexico oil industry.”

“This is what this parish does for the oil industry,” he said. “They utilize water transportation to accomplish what they do. Some personnel are flown by helicopter, but oilfield services are done by water.”

A seven-member board of commissioners governs the port. The Terrebonne Parish Council, the South Central Industrial Association, the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce and the parish president appoint the board members.

Like Port Fourchon, the bulk of the Port of Terrebonne’s operating expenses are derived from rental fees paid by business tenants, though Terrebonne’s are 75 percent self-generated. The balance comes from the parish government and other sources. Capital improvement funds are entirely derived from the state and federal governments.

The port expects to be independent of parish funding by the end of 2008.

“We generate a lot of money back to local government,” Rabalais said. “It gets a return on its investment through companies coming in, and the jobs created.”

The port employs 500 people. When LA Ship is built, the port will have 1,200 workers. If the port were to rent out all its tenant space, 3,000 to 4,000 total jobs would be created.

Rabalais said, according to state figures, for every job created, $21,000 is returned to the government in taxes.

Unlike Fourchon, the Port of Terrebonne does not receive money from a dedicated tax; instead it only gets general fund money from the parish.

“The Terrebonne Port went to the taxpayers twice for a dedicated tax, but we were turned down,” he said. “If the people of Terrebonne had given us tax money, we’d be farther along. The parish does subsidize our operational budget. In turn, we give back through local taxes.”

“It’s a real good thing for the economy,” Rabalais said. “We hope to grow and help the parish to prosper.”

Situated at the mouth of Bayou Lafourche, Port Fourchon is a cargo port, transferring commodities from ship to shore and vice versa. About 18 percent of the U.S. oil supply passes through Fourchon annually. * Photo courtesy of PORT FOURCHON