Accessing the Resources of the Gulf of Mexico – Essential for the Energy Future of the US
a report by
Ted M Falgout
Executive Director, Greater Lafourche Port Commission
Having been port director of a support base for offshore energy production for 31 years, retiring at the end of the year, and having had the opportunity to participate in the port’s evolution from a place where mostly muskrats and mosquitoes were the main inhabitants to the most significant intermodal transfer facility for energy support on the Gulf of Mexico, I hopefully have a perspective worth sharing that you will find both informative and motivating.
The Gulf of Mexico has evolved into the premier source of domestic oil for the US and is a major source of natural gas as well. In the last decade, much of this has been driven by deepwater activity. In fact, the latest reports coming from the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) continue to project that oil production in the Gulf will increase and the role of deepwater will even be more dominant. Today, about 70% of the oil coming out of the Gulf is from deepwater (>1,000ft). By 2013, this could be as high as 90%, totalling 1.8 million barrels per day. Gulf of Mexico gas production is expected to be about 7.03 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) this year and may decline beyond 2009 due to ageing projects in shallow water. However, if several deepwater prospects reach their full potential, we could see a small rise in Gulf gas production into the future. There is no question that the Gulf’s importance to US energy supply will continue far beyond today.
That being said, a related topic not commonly discussed is: ‘Will we be able to sustain the land-side infrastructure and communities necessary to efficiently access and support this very significant amount of energy production, given the growing challenges that coastal areas are facing?’ My prediction is that this discussion, which has only peripherally been talked about and mostly by coastal advocacy and environmental groups, will soon find itself as a topic of concern to the energy industry – and even mainstream US – before too long.
The driving force behind this matter is climate change and the resulting sea level rise. The reason it will be of such importance to the offshore
Ted M Falgout is the Executive Director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, the management and governing body of one of the most significant oil and gas logistical support bases in the US, Port Fourchon, and its inland companion, the South Lafourche Leonard Miller Jr Airport. In addition to his responsibilities as Port Director, Mr Falgout continues to be deeply involved in major matters in terms of coastal restoration, the development of roadways into and out of Port Fourchon,
culture and tourism with a special focus on eco-tourism and the prudent management of offshore oil and gas revenues on behalf of the State of Louisiana. Mr Falgout holds a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and biology from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a master’s degree from the Louisiana State University School of Agriculture.
E:
TedF@portfourchon.com
energy industry before it affects others as severely is that the offshore energy industry is overwhelmingly being serviced out of Coastal Louisiana at this time. Coastal Louisiana will undoubtedly be the laboratory on which other coastal communities will base how they have to deal with similar situations in the future.
The main reason for Coastal Louisiana experiencing the impact of sea level rise before others is that it was created by delta building from the Mississippi River, which no longer deposits sediments on the land (see Figures 1 and 2). That means consolidation of land is occurring without any new accumulation to offset it. Essentially, Coastal Louisiana is getting a double whammy by sinking while the sea is rising, so we are seeing a relative sea-level rise double that which most other areas are experiencing. Given that much of Coastal Louisiana is barely above sea level already, the impacts here are being felt much more severely and sooner than in other coastal areas, but those impacts will eventually be experienced by all coastal areas.
This phenomenon is not only challenging the existence of the coastal ports that are essential to efficiently service the offshore oil and gas industry, but also is jeopardising existing coastal infrastructure and the communities themselves that form the basis for support. As the sea rises, more and more communities have to resort to constructing expensive levee systems to protect them from the encroaching sea. The cost of insuring these communities from storms is rapidly escalating, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) building- elevation requirements are challenging the ability for communities to sustain themselves and making it difficult to recover from the increasingly devastating effects of hurricanes.
Sitting on the Gulf of Mexico, Port Fourchon and the South Lafourche community – its base of support and barely above sea level itself – have been dealing with these concerns for decades, and we have perhaps been the example of how to take on these challenges towards achieving sustainability. As I often say, “We were doing coastal restoration to protect the port well before it was cool to do it.” We were taxing ourselves and building hurricane-class levee systems around the perimeter of our community before most realised their need. We did this because we knew it was a matter of survival in this very unique and vulnerable area, and today we are reaping the benefits of those early efforts.
Additionally, when it became evident that Port Fourchon would play a large part in the development of Gulf deepwater energy operations, it was recognised that major port expansion and expensive highway infrastructure upgrades to the port’s only access highway, LA1, would be necessary. We embarked on aggressive programmes to achieve both. In the last decade, the port has undergone a 700-acre expansion, more than doubling its size, and has an additional
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© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2010
Regional Focus – The Americas
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