Drilling Moratorium

The crime here is not the loss to BP. It is the loss to La workers, both directly working on rigs and the satellite companies that do business with them.

Louisiana's economic hurt from drilling moratorium warrants action: An editorial | NOLA.com

It doesn't have to be this way. Not every rig is operated by BP. And there is a huge assumption that other rigs are operating in the same way. Since the majority of Gulf drilling takes place off of La shores, La citizens are the ones directly effected and it's going to collapse the economy.

 

that $200M is only 25 days.
stretched out over 6 months, that is over $1.5 BILLION.
yes, that is a lot of money.

and that number doesn't include the smaller ompanies that support big oil.
fab yards
supply houses
machine shops
boat companies
trucking companies
etc.
etc.

i work in the supply field.
business has grinded to a screeching halt since the moratorium.

so while the entire industry hasn't been shut down, they've shut down enough to have a very noticeable impact on the economy down here. and not a good impact.

 

200 Million may be a rounding error to BP or Exxon, but imagine what the loss of work will do to some of the farily large local E&P, fabrication, and services companies like Gulf Island, Dynamic Industries, or Hornbeck. It could put them under.

Edison Chouest has already announced upwards of 4,000 layoffs.

You are thinking much too narrowly. You seem to not comprehend all the small companies that cannot move operations and will die. And once they go lots of other businesses go. Restaurants, stores, gas stations, lawyers... Ask someone living in Houma or Lafayette what life was like when the oil industry was weak in the 1980s. I remember when every other store in the Southland Mall was shuttered.

 

and much less tax revenue for the state so itll hit N La too. hard to imagine the impact on La not being worse than Katrina.

 

Yep. I heard an interesting stat today that basically said every oilfield job creates 8-10 "support" jobs in south LA..

 

If you are just thinking of the impact on La., I think you are thinking too narrowly. How do you think the drilling ban is playing in Fla.? Totally appropriate from their point of view. How you view the moratorium just depends on whose ox is being gored. From the point of view of La., it's an economic disaster. From the point of view of Fla., it's a god-send.

Someone asked why I left La., and it was because of the weakness of oil prices in the 1980's. I was at McDermott Eng. in NO from 1976 - 1987, and I saw us go from 60K employees in 1981 to 30K in 1987 when I left. I had no raise for 5 years and I was 35 years old when I left, had a wife at home and 2 kids. I went to work for BFI (the trash company) so pricing would be controlled at home instead of in the middle east. From there I went to the software industry and have enjoyed it immensely. It has not made me rich, but I should be able to retire comfortably.

 

i would be curious to see economic projections for both states.

Florida's lost income due to lack of tourism caused by spill.
and Louisiana lost income caused by the moratorium.

If anyone can fond those numbers, hook us up.

 

Yes but like it or not, the only thing happening to Florida is cleanup of an existing spill. They don't lose any $ if the ban is lifted and there is not another spill like this. They lose nothing more either way. La loses from the existing spill and loss of drilling. They are going to be crushed by this if the ban is not lifted before those rigs re-contract elsewhere. It's apples and oranges.

 

This moratorium is crap, its a knee jerk reaction to a disaster, let those folks get back to work and tighten the regulations and safety measures on drilling.

But dont throw gasoline on a fire.

 

I completely agree. The loss of the oil rigs means unemployed workers for Louisiana. Gas prices will rise, an effect that will be felt by everyone in the country that doesn't see the bicycle as the ultimate means of transportation.
I just wonder if it Obama doesn't lift it the rigs move to other countries, how long will it be before they come back, if ever?