U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

MMS Awards Important Study on Three Louisiana Ports

Deepwater Program: Supply Logistics of OCS Oil and Gas Development in the Gulf of Mexico
Evaluation of Technological and Economic Parameters of Ports as
Supply and Manufacturing Bases Study number NSL-GM-01-03; GOM-G1200

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service has awarded a study, "Supply Logistics of OCS Oil and Gas Development in the Gulf of Mexico," to the National Ports and Waterways Institute of the University of New Orleans.  The study will analyze the logistics of the offshore oil and gas industry's supply and fabrication system in the Gulf of Mexico to develop a method of measuring Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) related port activity.  Ports and port-associated support facilities are critical staging areas for OCS oil and gas related activities.  In recent years, the supply network supporting the offshore oil and gas industry has expanded greatly in size, complexity, and sophistication.

The National Ports and Waterways Institute, under the cooperative agreement, will examine the operations of three Louisiana ports:  Port Fourchon, a service base port; Port of Iberia, a fabrication port; and Port of Morgan City, both a service base and a fabrication port.  The Institute will define the transportation network that connects ports to inland supply and fabrication systems.  This will provide knowledge of the backward linkages of the offshore industry from platforms to the suppliers, hence, insight into the spatial distribution of economic effects of the oil and gas industry on various sectors of the economy.

The Minerals Management Service is required by the National Environmental Policy Act to document onshore effects of the OCS program.  The infrastructure of a port affects public and private facilities such as roads, water, utilities, schools, and local businesses.  Ports also affect community income, wages and employment, income distribution, and labor demand.  The assessment of ports Fourchon, New Iberia, and Morgan City will provide the basis for modeling other OCS ports and effects.

The National Ports and Waterways Institute has a long-term relationship with many Gulf of Mexico ports, including the ports in this study.  The Institute contracts with ports to provide technical assistance in the development of master plans and market assessments. It also has a contract with the State of Louisiana to evaluate applications for monies from a transportation trust fund.  The study will continue through December 31, 2002.

MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases.  These collections totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

-MMS-GOM-

MMS's Website Address: http://www.mms.gov