Gulf Economic Survival Team

Get us back to work fueling America!

Voices from America's Energy Coast

Testimonials from Gulf Coast Workers on Impacts of Federal Permitting Delays:

Thomas Grant, IV, employed by an offshore work boat company in Lafourche Parish:

“I'm noticing more and more empty spaces in our parking lot.  I am also seeing more and more small businesses close or scaling back their workforce all around the area of Galliano and Port Fourchon, La.  My employer is sending at 100 vessels overseas to Brazil to keep them working. With those transfers go many American jobs.  

We need to have deepwater permits for the Gulf of Mexico to be issued sooner, rather than later.   Those of us who remain employed are looking at having our salaries cut by our being forced to work equal time instead of two days of work for each day off.”

Johnny Gibson, owner of a The A.C. Company of South Louisiana, Iberia Parish:

“My company is within a few weeks of filing for bankruptcy due to the impacts of the moratorium/de facto moratorium.  We are a highly specialized offshore service company renting and servicing instrumentation for oilfield platforms and employee a staff of 20. We have been in business since 1967 and have survived the ups and downs of the oil and gas industry, but this is the worst I have ever seen. . The company has been losing approximately $100,000 per month for the past four months.”

Cory Kief, president of Offshore Towing in Lafourche Parish:

“We are a marine towing company whose primary function is to move drilling rigs. Permits are not being issued, so that means we aren't moving enough rigs.  We work by the hour and we aren't working that many hours anymore.

Our staff salaries’ are based on commission, and, because of that, ALL have sustained wage cuts. However, these cuts are not enough to manage our overhead. Vessel crews are way too valuable to lay off. So, we continue to keep all of our vessels active for now, using capital to offset any short comings, but even that has a threshold of tolerance that will be reached shortly if some normalcy isn't reached soon. I said SOON!”

James Baker, unemployed as a result of moratorium:

“I’m not a small business owner, but my life has been turned upside down due to the offshore drilling moratorium. I worked for Schlumberger for 29.5 years and was laid off last July as a direct result of the moratorium. I have not been able to find other work, although I have had a few interviews. I worked in the data group that handled the offshore data for clients, and as such I am not eligible for any BP payments. I was planning on retiring when I was 62, but it looks like I'll have to work longer because of this. It's not only my loss of income directly, but my pension was frozen and won't be increasing, and I'm unable to put any money in my 401(k) retirement account. “

Michael Peneguy, DDS:

“Our business has seen a 20% decrease (as have all of my colleagues). I know five patients who have been laid off and two have transferred. One relocated to Texas and another to Egypt.  2009 was not a great year, either for my colleagues and my office.   The best analogy I can make is the malaise we suffer when a hurricane is approaching.  With a helpless feeling, we sit around watching the weather report all day as a slow moving storm approaches.”

Lester Benoit, General Contractor:

“For the past fifteen years. I have built, sold and rented small commercial and residential properties. In fifteen years, I have never had vacancies like I have now. I have a new construction house that has been for sale since April. .Everyone seems to be scared and banks cautious.”

Stacy Constransitch, Realtor in Lafourche Parish:

“My sales have almost come to a screeching halt.  It has affected everyone in our office. Phones are no longer ringing like before and we do not have the people coming into the office like before. Sales are down overall. The working people are not purchasing normal priced homes.  We have 11 Realtors in the office, and there are very few days that as much as two are in the office.”

E-mail us to let us know how federal permitting delays have affected you and your business.

Testimonials on the Impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Drilling Moratorium:

Mike Menduni, ExPert Riser Solutions at Port Fourchon:

ExPert Riser Solutions directly provides inspection and repair services for marine drilling rsers. Customer base: Transocean, Noble, Diamond, Sea Drill, Ensco, Shell, BP, Chevron and Exxon. We currently employee 23 indirect and 89 direct labor employees. Within two weeks we have plans to reduce our work force by 20%. If the moratorium continues full term we could lose 60% of our work force.  Long term (six months) with no Drilling in the Gulf will cost ERS approximately $16M in lost revenue, which in turn reduces Lafourche Parish's tax revenues.

Americans cannot afford dependence on foreign Oil. Extending the moratorium on deepwater drilling will force the Oil Companies to systematically pull the deepwater drilling units from the Gulf and send them overseas for exploration. Africa, Brazil and Malaysia are hungry for these rigs. I seriously doubt the Oil companies will ever bring them all back to the Gulf. The US Gulf of Mexico has untold amounts of oil beneath its waters most of it untapped in water depths below five thousand feet. Continuing to explore and produce gas from the GOM will provide Americans a source of energy for decades to come. The current moratorium banning exploration in the Gulfs ultra deep waters will certainly cost US tax payers jobs. The backbone of the America work force depends on availability of energy to support this country. The loss of exploration and eventually production of hydrocarbons from the GOM will continue to reduce the level of living for all middle class Americans.

Dwayne Rebstock, AllPort Service at Port Fourchon:

    I have worked in the oil and gas industry since I was 19 years old, for a total of 22 years. In 2007, I opened a logistics brokerage company and then invested $3 million to expand to a full multi-service dock facility. Our new dock facility opened March 1, 2010 at Port Fourchon to support drilling and production in the Gulf of Mexico and service foreign-flagged ships. Since Port Fourchon services 80 percent of deepwater oil and gas activity in the Gulf, it was a very logical choice for a business location and my staff of 30 has been very proud to do a job that provides energy for America.

    Our optimism quickly changed to panic on May 28 when President Obama announced that he was suspending all existing deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for at least six months. Since then, we have lost at least one client and fear the worst - possibly laying off all thirty employees should the moratorium stand. And that's just my business, not to mention the hundreds of other service companies based or doing work at Fourchon, and thousands of companies across the Gulf Coast representing hundred of thousands of employees and their families.

Lori Davis, owner of Rig-Chem in Houma, LA:

    Rig-Chem is a manufacturer and supplier of specialty chemicals used in wellbore displacement and completion operations. Our business has been in this community for 30 years and we have 14 employees. This is the community I have lived in all my life and my employees are like family. Now, with the moratorium, everyone has a look of fear in their eyes and I don't have any answers for them. Projects that we had in place and material orders that we had placed have already been cancelled. Everyone is in survival mode now. Before this, I was focused on how we could help the fishermen who have been devastated by the oil spill, but now, I have to focus on keeping my business afloat and my employees employed. We thought we had only an oil spill and cleanup problem in Terrebonne Parish, but now we have to worry about making payroll.

    Seventy percent of our business is dependant on deepwater exploration. This was the future of our business, so the moratorium is a tremendous blow to us and thousands of other companies. We used to think that if you could work in deepwater, you could work anywhere. However, it is likely that idle rigs will move overseas instead of waiting for the moratorium. It will be very difficult for small companies to work in international markets.