echnical Summary : MMS Publication 2001-019
Lafourche Parish and Port Fourchon, Louisiana: Effects of the Outer
Continental Shelf Petroleum Industry on the Economy and Public Services, Part 1
BACKGROUND: Port Fourchon, located in
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, is an onshore land base for deepwater offshore oil and gas
exploration and development. The port expanded during the 1990’s due to increased
deepwater activity on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Offshore oil and gas activity has
had an impact on the port and the local community.
OBJECTIVES: (1) Describe the development
and activity of Port Fourchon; (2) describe the impact of OCS deepwater oil and gas
exploration on the port and the local community.
DESCRIPTION: The study deals with the OCS
deepwater oil and gas exploitation in the Central Gulf of Mexico and its effect on Port
Fourchon and the adjacent human community. Port Fourchon is located in Lafourche Parish,
Louisiana, in the southwestern part of the state. Impacts discussed in this report include
those related to infrastructure such as La. Highway 1 and the supply of potable water as
well as effects on law enforcement, education and religion.
SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: Recent
developments in offshore deepwater oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of
Mexico have brought economic benefits to both Port Fourchon and Lafourche Parish.
Increased economic activity is associated with the provision of onshore support for the
offshore oil and gas industry. The demands, however, of this growth have meant new
challenges for the port and the surrounding community. The condition of the roads, the
volume of traffic, and the water system’s current expansion reflect strains on the
infrastructure. Municipal and parish officials express concern over the stresses of
traffic control, crime prevention and law enforcement. Public school leaders need
multilingual, multicultural teachers not readily available.
STUDY RESULTS: Port Fourchon is
Louisiana’s only port directly adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. It is located on the
coast of Lafourche Parish and is strategically positioned to serve industrial activity
associated with exploiting the vast oil and gas resources offshore in the Gulf. Although a
relatively young port when compared with New Orleans of Galveston, Port Fourchon is
growing at a visible rate due to the increase of petroleum development on the Outer
Continental Shelf.
Two companies had located on port property by 1978; as of August, 1999, there were 124
companies there. Leasing activity on port land increased from 50 lessees and 113
businesses in June of 1998; to 54 lessees and 124 businesses in May of 1999, less than a
year later. The physical size of the port has grown from about 25 acres in 1980 to nearly
600 acres as of August, 1999. Port Fourchon is a multi-use port servicing the needs of oil
and gas development, commercial fishing, recreation, and shipping as well as providing the
land base for the Louisiana Offshore Port Authority (LOOP).
Much of the increase, however, in economic activity attributable to the port from 1994
to 1999 is due to the rapid expansion of oil and gas development in water depths of 1,000
feet (300 meters) or more in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to its strategic location to
service exploitation of these deepwater sites, Port Fourchon has the only facility in the
world offering one-stop shopping, as it were. It is called C-Port and allows supply
vessels to take on fuel, water, deck cargo, barites, cements, liquid muds and completion
fluids all at one place, under a covered dock and in less than 24 hours. Anywhere else,
this process would take from two to three days, a heavy cost to ship owners and platform
operators.
Such increases are not all positive. The highway system and potable water supply are
both inadequate to meet current as well as future demands. Louisiana Highway 1 is the only
land access to the port. The highway is a two-lane road with runs along Bayou Lafourche
and through several small communities, flooding during storms and often impassable due to
weather and traffic accidents. Local business and industry also face shortages in skilled
labor. Local schools and law enforcement also are affected by the larger numbers of people
in and around the port. Schools and other local agencies must spend more money to meet the
needs of a growing population, nearly half of who are Spanish-speaking. Life-long
residents are French-Arcadian and not accustomed to people who speak neither French nor
English.
Police and sheriff officers now face a near doubling in the number of transients in the
parish. According to these officials, transients make enforcement and apprehension more
difficult because they are unknown to one another and they lack social ties, which help to
maintain law and order in any community. Higher levels of traffic congestion and accidents
and fatalities also are results of increased activity offshore. The unique geography of
the parish, which is nearly 100 miles long and divided by Bayou Lafourche, combined with
the lack of a good secondary road system create major obstacles to traffic flow.
STUDY PRODUCT(S): Diane C. Keithley, Ph.D.
2001. Petroleum Mining on the Outer Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico: Effects on the
Economy and Public Services of Port Fourchon and Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, Volume I. A
final report for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service Gulf of
Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, La. Contract No. 14-35-0001-30660-19945/PO 54185. 25 pp
STUDY TITLE: A Socioeconomic Analysis of
the Port Expansion at Port Fourchon
REPORT TITLE: Lafourche Parish and Port Fourchon, Louisiana:
Effects of the Outer Continental Shelf Petroleum Industry on the Economy and
Public Services, Part 1
CONTRACT NUMBER(S): 14-35-0001-30660-19945
SPONSORING OCS REGION: Gulf of Mexico
APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA(S): Central Gulf
of Mexico
COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: February 2001
COST(S): FY 1997-1998: $80,767.00; FY 1999: $5,000
CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: $85,767.00
PROJECT MANAGER(S): Diane C. Keithley,
Ph.D
AFFILIATION: Independent
ADDRESS: 13913 Hootsell Court, Baton
Rouge, LA 70816
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S):
