Local industry advocating for offshore interests

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As the offshore economy struggles with slumped oil prices, local stakeholders are building the relationship between industry and federal officials.

The Gulf Economic Survival Team, headed by Lori LeBlanc, has been active for the last six years in advocating for offshore industry interests at the national level. The Greater Lafourche Port Commission has expanded its role beyond just landlord at Port Fourchon to also promoting the industry.

The GEST was formed in 2010 by then-Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill and the subsequent six-month moratorium implemented by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Though formed and named by one of the state’s leaders, the team was never a government agency. LeBlanc said GEST members realized it would need more resources than the state could provide and instead chose to function as a nonprofit, which it does to this day. LeBlanc said the team’s original goal was to give voice to those opposing the moratorium.


“While the oil spill was an environmental tragedy, putting a moratorium and basically shutting down the Gulf of Mexico was basically going to kill our economy down here. So we formed the Gulf Economic Survival Team to represent the communities down here who are the energy hub for serving offshore oil and gas,” she explained.

According to LeBlanc, GEST members saw the moratorium battle would be played out in the courtroom and adjusted its focus on new federal regulations coming through the pipeline it could address before they go into policy. The team worked with decision makers in federal agencies and offshore companies to smooth out any issues with permitting and planning approvals to cut down on bottlenecks in Gulf exploration.

The tension between safety and Gulf exploration has been at the core of the GEST’s efforts over the last year. LeBlanc has been a leading voice against the well control rule, implemented by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on April 14, that requires more stringent inspections on rigs and higher standards for blowout preventers, devices designed to seal a well during an explosion. LeBlanc flew to Washington, D.C., multiple times to meet with congressmen and regulatory officials to speak about the threat the rule imposed on offshore drilling.


LeBlanc highlighted the safety measures industry leaders have taken since the Deepwater Horizon spill, including the development of the Center for Offshore Safety and the Marine Well Containment Company.

LeBlanc said the 2014 work incident rate for offshore work was half that of private industry in general. However, offshore incidents can carry a larger impact, as highlighted by the recent Shell Oil spill of more than 88,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf. LeBlanc said GEST is keeping an eye on the spill, but warned that no line of work is without its risks.

“We’re going to monitor [the spill], and we never want to see an incident. We don’t want to see a spill, don’t want to see anybody get hurt. The reality is this is a risky endeavor, as are many other industries that we’re involved in,” she said.


Prior to its passage, the GEST also pointed out the economic impact the well control rule could have on offshore activity. The GEST and Back to Work Coalition commissioned energy research group Wood Mackenzie to conduct a study on the rule’s impact. The study found that the rule could cost Louisiana almost 35,000 jobs by 2030.

Chett Chiasson, Port Fourchon executive director, worked with LeBlanc to get the Wood Mackenzie study completed. Based on concerns for its tenants’ financial viability, the port commission voted in April 2015 to reduce rent for all its tenants by 20 percent, and has since extended that through the end of this year. According to Chiasson, the port will not raise the rates until the price of oil maintains at least $60 a barrel price for 60 days.

During these dark days of industry, the port has also played a role in promoting the industry. Chiasson said the port commission has worked with government agencies and testified before Congress to explain its importance to both the local and national economies. The leaders at Port Fourchon have also welcomed congressional delegations, such as the bipartisan one led by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise in April, for visits to get a better idea of what the port provides.


“The thing about us down here, right, is that a lot of people don’t see it, but once you can get them down here, they kind of get it and they understand it,” Chiasson said.

With the fight over the well control rule more or less over, LeBlanc and her allies have again shifted their focus to the next regulatory arenas. The federal government is working on its 5-year plan for Outer Continental Shelf leases that will outline leasing through 2022. Strong pushback from environmental advocates has made the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management remove Atlantic Ocean exploration from the plan, and LeBlanc is building support to keep the same from happening in the Gulf.

The Environmental Protection Agency released new methane emission standards last week, and the BSEE has proposed an air rule that is currently receiving comments from the public. According to LeBlanc, these rules have the chance to shift more cost on a sector that is already facing depleted revenues due to low oil prices. The harm to exploration would then proceed down the economic ladder and be felt by supporting businesses and the overall economy in south Louisiana, something LeBlanc is working to maintain each day.


“Never before did we have an organization to make sure we had robust and safe offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico,” she said. “I think a lot of us really took it for granted that as long as the price of oil was high enough, we could keep on doing business as usual, keep on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.” •

Advocating for offshore interests