There’s no telling how much Port Fourchon might grow

Hardly no one outside of South Louisiana knows what Port Fourchon is, nor where it is located within the globe.

Yet there’s absolutely no doubt that everyone in the United States of America, if not the entire world, is impacted by the goings on within the small local port that looks like nothing more than a grain of dust on the map of Louisiana’s fast-eroding coast.

Business is booming at Fourchon with numbers soaring to levels that haven’t ever been seen in the port’s history.

Barring an unforeseen setback, Executive Director Chett Chiasson said there’s no reason to expect the growth will stop anytime.

“Business is looking great,” Chiasson said decisively when asked about the current state of the port. “We’re still growing very quickly. Our tenants are investing considerable amounts of money into facilities into the port so that they’re able to handle exploration that is coming into the Gulf. It’s a constant growth phase right now, and it’s in absolute full force as we speak.”

For Port Fourchon, the current upward swing is a bit of a reversal of fortunes when one considers the events that have occurred in years past. Chiasson said work going on today at the port is probably “about two years behind schedule” of original projections that were made in the past.

Those projections, of course, were made before the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that dumped countless barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and which coaxed President Barack Obama’s administration to place a deepwater drilling moratorium, which halted work at the port completely.

But since the moratorium, Port Fourchon has landed on its feet and has come back better than ever. Chiasson said that though some port projects are behind schedule, the amount of work going on at the port has rebounded to levels that are at pre-BP levels and even beyond.

He said estimates show that the port will have about $295 million in investments for the 2015 calendar year. Early figures show a number similar to that $295 million should be expected for 2016, as well.

“We’re surpassing those numbers,” Chiasson said. “We’re above where we were at that time when the spill occurred, so we’re certainly excited about that. So the goal now is to just keep moving forward into the future and to continue growing.

“Looking at those numbers, which are just guesses based on what we know is happening at this moment, looking at those numbers, it’s absolutely amazing. I don’t think anybody could have imagined five years ago, much less 50 years ago that we’d be seeing this type of thing at Port Fourchon.”

So with the big numbers on the horizon, Chiasson said the port’s sights are on being better in the future. He said the Port Commission is doing bulkhead construction to help aid tenants that are working to expand.

“And we are in the design phase for even more bulkhead construction in the future,” Chiasson said.

The executive director said that the port is currently also in the permitting phase to add a new slip – a process that will be completed in the future as Fourchon continues to expand.

In the immediate future, Chiasson said he expects Chevron’s new facility at the Greater Gulf of Mexico Airbase to be completed by the first few months of 2015 – something that will be another boost to offshore efforts.

“That’s going to be Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Aviation Logistics Facility,” Chiasson said. “So all of their Gulf of Mexico aviation logistics will come out of the airport here in Galliano. We’re really excited about that. That’s just going to increase the number of people who will be coming out here and heading offshore.”

But away from the direct growth, Fourchon also has so many indirect positive consequences for our area. For example, sales tax numbers are up in both Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in 2014, compared to 2013 figures – a direct product of the port’s existence because of the high-quality jobs that exist in our area.

“We’re so blessed to be able to be located in close proximity to Port Fourchon,” Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said. “It’s such a boost to our area and our economy and it’s a big reason why we’re able to experience the growth and some of the things we are enjoying now.”

Economic consultant Loren Scott agrees whole-heartedly. He said Fourchon is a big reason why Louisiana is one of the top economic states in terms of average household income and unemployment.

“It is an absolute key to operations in the Gulf of Mexico and it’s a key provider of jobs, income and sales to your area because so much activity comes to it,” Scott said.

For Chiasson, the feeling is one of pride and pleasure. This thing continues to grow, and and no one knows how big the surge may be.

“There’s no telling,” he said when asked how big the current surge could someday be. “From the things we hear, we’re told this thing could be at least 50 percent larger than what it is now. I’m talking about just the industry as a whole and possibilities for more.

“We’re just in this period of boom like you said, and it just seems as though it’s going to last for many, many years. And, hopefully, we can continue to meet those needs for those people as things continue to increase.”

An arial photo shows the booming business going on at Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish. According to Executive Director Chett Chiasson, projections show at least $295 million in investments flowing through the port in 2015.