Among the many troubles plaguing our nation, the oil and gas industry troubles rank among our top economic challenges.
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic wasn’t bad enough, the uncalled for oil gut caused by the overproduction by OPEC and Russia are wreaking havoc in the oil and gas industry in Louisiana and other producing states.
The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association recently did a survey of the state’s industry and found the combined impact of the coronavirus shutdown of the economy and the oil glut “could prove to be potentially fatal for many independent producers and service companies and the thousands of workers they employ across the state,” according to Kati Hyer, director of social media and PR for LOGA.
The organization is made up of 450 companies across Louisiana.
“The survey shows that without some kind of emergency relief, energy producers may be forced to shut-in more than half of the wells they currently operate in Louisiana and potentially reduce their workforce by as much as 70 percent over the next 90 days,” Hyer wrote.
There are at present 33,650 oil and gas wells in operation across Louisiana, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The survey respondents showed that as many as 16,800 could be shut-in.
And according to LOGA, there are about 33,900 people employed by those wells. The survey also projected “more than 23,000 jobs, which generate $2.2 billion dollars in earnings annually, are at immediate risk.”
“Our members are doing everything they can to keep their doors open and protect their workers, whose livelihoods are at risk,” said Gifford Briggs, president of LOGA. “But if prices don’t recover above $40/bbl by June first, my members have told me it’s going to be devastating. We cannot do this alone.”
The U.S. Information Agency forecast April 7 that “the United States will return to being a net importer of crude oil and petroleum products in the third quarter of 2020 and remain a net importer in most months through the end of the forecast period.”
President Trump has suggested that OPEC and Russia cut production by 10 million to 15 million barrels, but the other countries involved don’t seem to be in a hurry to resolve the glut.
Being dependent on foreign sources of oil has had serious consequences for this nation in the past and the current situation does not look promising. Both our national and state governments need to take action to protect our domestic oil and gas industry, and the employees and consumers who rely on it.
Read in from AmericanPress – Photo as posted on AmericanPress
