Page 65: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2011)

June 2011www.marinelink.com 61By Susan BuchananThe permitting process for offshore drilling in the U.S. Gulf sped up this spring as more companiescomplied with new safety regulations, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regula- tion and Enforcement, while policy observers said gas prices above $4 a gallon spurred the Obama Ad- ministration to action. Marine industry membersalong the Gulf Coast believe Washington is on the right course now, but said that BOEMRE still needs to distribute permits more quickly. In Late May, Port Fourchon Executive Director Chett Chiasson said for the shallow portion of our business, permits have been coming at a good rate, while deepwater permits are much slower to be had. We feel a direct impact from the issuance of offshore drilling permits, and by my calculations 14 deep-water permits have been given out since the mora- torium ended in October, and 12 of them will be serviced by Port Fourchon.? He continued, saying I'm pleased to see that, but by the same token it equates to only half of the 28 drilling rigs or so that were shut by the deepwater moratorium? that extended from late May to early October of last year. Traffic is still down considerably at the port since the spill, but it's improving,? Chiasson said. We're 40% below normal now after having been down 60% last summer. We're moving in a posi- tive direction as more permits are issued.? Chiasson continued, we didn't have the number of layoffs at Port Fourchon following the spill that we feared.? Worst-case scenarios didn't materialize because of several factors. The Port Commission assisted tenants by giving them lease-rate reductions of 30% from July 2010 to June 2011, and by freez-ing escalation rates on rents." Companies held onto skilled workers. But when people quit or retired, their positions often were notfilled," Chiasson said. About 5,000 workers are em- ployed at the port, which is used by over 250 com- panies on a daily basis. The port has 125 tenants. PACE OF OFFSHORE PERMITTING NOT FAST ENOUGH Cliffe Laborde, managing member at Laborde Ma- rine Management, LLC, in New Orleans, calledBOEMREs current pace of issuing deepwater per- mits rather anemic.? But he said the fact that they have at least started issuing them has provided a glimmer of light and hope to deepwater maritime in- terests.? And he said with President Obama's renewed recognition of the role of offshore drilling in the U.S. economy and national security, we are cau- tiously optimistic that Secretary of Interior Salazarand BOEMRE Director Bromwich will encouragebureaucrats at BOEMRE to expedite the issuance of pending permits so that the industry can get back tofinding and producing oil and gas safely offshore.? Laborde Marine's business covers two segments ? crewboats and supply boats. In addition to New Or- leans, the company has offices in Morgan City and Lafayette, La., Houston and Brazil. Rig Permits Have Accelerated MeaningGOM Sees Better Days Labordes Jean Pierre Lab OSV. (Photo courtesy Laborde Marine)