OIL&INDUSTRY
Maritime companies employ alternative means By Bridget Mire Staff Writer
Thoma Sea shipbuilders work on an offshore vessel in Thoma Sea’s Lockport facility. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
Economists don’t see oil price rebound anytime soon By Dan Copp Staff Writer
Although low gas prices may be popular with consumers in other states, in south Louisiana the cheaper costs at the pump are a sign of troubling times. “They don’t like low gas prices in Louisiana,” said Loren Scott, a retired LSU economist and analyst of the state’s economy. “They really depend on those oil prices being strong.” The oil bust that started in mid-2014 has cost Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes a whopping 16,700 jobs, at a decline of 16.4 percent, Scott said. But the local forecast isn’t all doom and gloom, Scott said. “The good news is that if you look at the monthly data in the Houma metropolitan area, the job losses have been getting smaller,” Scott said. “In January you lost jobs at a
rate of 6,500 a year, but that number’s down to 2,800 a year in July. So, the good news is that the rate of decline is slowing. That’s really hopeful for your area. It’s not at zero yet, so we’ll see.” The number of rigs exploring for oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico remains at its lowest level in a year, recent figures show. The Gulf rig count, a barometer for HoumaThibodaux’s oil-based economy, stood at 16, according to figures released recently by General Electric’s oilfield services company BakerHughes. It’s down two compared to the same time last year and the lowest since plunging to 10 late last September. The count is down 71 percent from the 56 rigs working in August 2014, when a three-year bust that has stripped thousands of jobs from Houma-Thibodaux’s offshore-oil-based
economy began. According to Gifford Briggs, vice president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, the HoumaThibodaux area lost about 3,000 jobs since this time last year. “If you just look at the high point of our rig activity in 2013-2014, we had 2,200 rigs in the United States and we dropped all the way down to 350-370,” Briggs said. “Today we’re back up to 950, so at least that is a pretty significant increase.” Across the country, the rig count increased by one to 944, which is up 86 percent compared to the 508 drilling a year ago, according to BakerHughes. The increase was driven by a boom in inland shale fields where drilling is less expensive and quicker than the Gulf’s deep waters. According to the most recent total, 756 rigs sought oil and 187 natural gas. One was listed as
miscellaneous. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and reached a low of 404 in May 2016. Jobs directly involved in oil and gas production increased by 100 in August but are down 500 since July 2016, according to a recent report from the Louisiana Workforce Commission. About 5,400 people now hold such jobs locally. It is the 30th straight month of over-theyear declines in oilfield jobs and a sign that a three-year bust is still extracting a toll on the metro area, comprising Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. “There is not going to be an oil price rebound anytime soon,” said David Dismukes, executive director of the LSU Center for Energy Studies. “Prices are likely to stay very range-bound between $48 to $52 per See PRICES, C7
Although the threeyear oil bust has taken a toll on the maritime industry, local companies are striving to stay relevant through alternative means. Louisiana economist Loren Scott predicts by the end of the year, Houma-Thibodaux will have lost 16,700 jobs since 2015 – a 16.4 percent drop. Scott didn't have job loss figures for the maritime industry specifically, but he knows it's a "sizable" number. "At least one shipping company has told me they let about 1,000 of their mariners go," he said. "You take an outfit like Edison Chouest. One of the things Chouest did in order to hang onto the mariners is they changed up the work cycle. In the good old days, a mariner would work 28 days and then have 14 days off. Now, they're either seven days on and seven days off, or 28 days on and 28 days off. Basically, the amount of time they get to work has been cut in half. But by doing that, they're able to spread the work that is available around and try to hang onto the mariners as best they can." Scott said about 100 of Galliano-based Chouest's boats are tied up now, and they almost shut down its shipyard, LaShip. Chouest representatives couldn't be reached for comment. Many shipbuilding companies are staying open by looking outside of offshore work, Scott said. For instance, they may build ferry boats for New York or inland barges. Lockport-based Bollinger Shipyards is one company that has remained stable, Scott said. That's because Bollinger is in the midst of a $1.5 billion, 32-boat See MARITIME, C11
Officials look to diversify economy beyond oil industry By Dan Copp Staff Writer
As south Louisiana continues to reel from the devastating effects of the oil downturn, there are efforts underway to diversify the local economy to make the area less reliant on oil and gas. Just as a business shouldn’t rely on only one customer, local officials say they are working to ensure that the local economy isn’t depending on just one sector to stay afloat. The Terrebonne Economic Development Authority recently launched a five-year plan based on a $70,000 study that seeks to strengthen the parish’s economy by preventing it from becoming a onetrick pony solely reliant on oil. Matt Rookard, TEDA’s chief executive officer, said Terrebonne Parish has already made significant strides to do just that.
“I think if you look at it you’ll find there are a few areas where we’ve done pretty well in terms of diversification,” Rookard said. “If you look at sectors like health care and trucking, those are some good areas where you can see economic growth. A lot of that is tied to people being here due to the oil industry, but it’s also not completely reliant on the oil and gas sector.” Although Rookard said there is still much work to be done to liberate Terrebonne Parish’s economy from its dependence on oil and gas, steps were taken to diversify the local economy since the oil bust of the 1980s. “When I hear people say we haven’t done anything since the '80s to diversify the economy, I push back on that,” Rookard said. “Are we where we need to be? I’d say absolutely not. We have a lot of work to do. As good as the oil and gas business
has been we know there are boom-and-bust cycles. The economy needs to be robust and be able to deal with the ups and downs of the oil and gas sector.” Rookard said the major non-oil sectors experiencing the most growth are transportation and warehousing. “We’ve had some growth in manufacturing as well,” he said. “We’ve also had some growth in finance, real estate and insurance. Health care is really interesting because it’s one of things that came out of the oil bust in the 1980s and was really pushed in the 2000s by the leadership in this community.” Despite the need to diversify the economy, Rookard said TEDA doesn’t want to abandon oil and seafood to chase the prospect of new economic opportunities. “It’s a slow diversification process because See DIVERSIFY, C13
Kevin Pye talks about losing his job in the oilfield while sitting with his daughter Kira, 4. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF – DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
Oilfield workers cope with industry downturn By Holly Duchmann Staff Writer
Like many other men and women in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, Kevin Pye of Chacahoula was brought up in an oilfield family.“Throughout my
whole life, I was subconsciously trained to do a certain field of work,” Pye said. “Right in high school, I basically knew what I was going to do. I was going to go into the oilfield because there was a vast majority of money to be made and to
be able to live a lifestyle where you didn’t have to worry about much.” Following in his father’s footsteps, Pye entered the oil industry doing wire work immediately after graduating high See WORKERS, C9
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Port Fourchon director remains ‘cautiously optimistic’
Edison Chouest Offshore boats docked at Port Fourchon. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
By Bridget Mire Staff Writer
Port Fourchon has seen brighter days, but business is moving along despite the oil downturn. The Greater Lafourche Port Commission decided in April 2015 to give a 20 percent discount for basic land rental. Chett Chiasson, the Port Commission’s executive director, said revenue has decreased by a little over $8 million since then. “We’ve still been able to build bulkhead in Slip C,” he said. “Fortunately, over the last four months, we’ve actually rented three new waterfront sites. We’re happy about that and being cautiously optimistic about what the future holds.” There are at least 500 fewer jobs in Port
Fourchon than there were in 2014, Chiasson said. Still, he said, no tenants have altogether left the port’s properties. No one has given up waterfront leases, and only about five small land leases have been relinquished. “Port Fourchon has become the leader in servicing all the deepwater activity in the U.S. Gulf,” Chiasson said. “Whatever’s happening out there in the Gulf right now, especially in the deep water, is still being serviced out of Fourchon, just at a much lower rate. Most of (the tenants) are hanging onto what they have now because they need to be prepared for the eventual turnaround.” The port is looking to diversify in the future.
capability to be an all-encompassing port servicing the oil and gas industry,” he said. “There’s a considerable amount of business that leaves the Gulf and goes overseas for repair and refurbishment on the deepwater rig side. We’re trying to create more capacity to attract that work that’s leaving, keep it here in the United States. We know that our customers, the service companies, are struggling. We’re here to work with them. We have been and we’ll continue to do so until we get out of this slump that we’re in.”
Pelicans fly over oilfield equipment at Port Fourchon. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
Energy World USA announced last month that it had begun the review process to begin construction on an $888 million liquefied natural gas export terminal
at Port Fourchon. The terminal would produce and export 5 million tons of LNG. “It’s still in the energy business, but it’s not relying on the price of a barrel
of oil,” Chiasson said. He said the commission is also investigating deepening a section of the port to allow for rig repair and refurbishment. “It gives us more
— Staff Writer Bridget Mire can be reached at 448-7639 or bridget. mire@dailycomet.com. Follow her on Twitter @bridget_mire.
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Coastal restoration industry to grow in Louisiana By Holly Duchmann Staff Writer
Coastal advocates say Louisiana’s coastal master plan combined with the reparations from the BP oil spill will help expand the coastal restoration and water management industries in the state and create thousands of jobs over the next decade. The $8.7 billion in reparations to the state from BP for the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill represents an opportunity to not only to protect and restore the state’s coast but also to create new economic opportunities, said Justin Ehrenwerth, president and CEO of the Water Institute of the Gulf. “One of our great hopes is that from a horrible tragedy, we have to always remember 11 people lost their lives and oil flowed into the Gulf for that 87 days -- it was the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history,” Ehrenwerth said. “But there’s no question that with the settlement of the litigation against BP and the other responsible parties, we have an unprecedented opportunity to not only restore and protect our coast but also benefit from the economic reverberations from such a large investment.” The money from BP, which will flow into the state over the next 15 years, combined with the 50-year, $50 billion coastal master, plan puts Louisiana in a unique spot to accelerate and expand its coastal restoration and water management industry. Greater New Orleans Inc., an economic development agency based in New Orleans, predicted
The state is planning several coastal restoration projects for the Terrebonne-Lafourche region. [FILE PHOTO]
“So that was really interesting for us to hear that we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just maybe need to tweak it a little bit so they could be more diverse in how they apply their skills.” Simone Maloz
there would be 5,294 middle-skill jobs and 5,837 high-skill job openings over the next decade. The most numerous openings for middleskill workers are as sales representatives, service workers, welders, cutters, brazers and other positions. For highskilled workers, the most openings are projected to be in civil engineering, general and operations managers, management analysts, accountants and auditors, and various engineers positions, according to GNO. Simone Maloz, executive director of Thibodaux-based coastal advocacy group Restore or Retreat, and Matt Rookard, CEO of the Terrebonne Economic Authority, said many of the workers and businesses in the area who work in oil and gas may be in a good position to switch or begin also working in coastal restoration and water management because they’re already trained to work in the dynamic coastal environment. “I think it’s one of the bigger opportunities
statewide,” Rookard said. “We’re obviously looking at it locally, but there’s a lot of local expertise in coastal restoration. ... You’re still building the stuff, you’re still moving dirt, you’re still driving trucks, operating cranes, but the outcome is is a lot different. You’re just redeploying the same research.” Maloz said what she’s heard industry folks say is these workers don’t need different training, they just need an extra day of training on green infrastructure, which is an approach to water management that protects, restores or mimics the natural water cycle. Where as a gray infrastructure project could mean building a new water treatment plant, a green infrastructure project would involve restoring wetlands. “So that was really interesting for us to hear that we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just maybe need to tweak it a little bit so they could be more diverse in how they apply their skills,” Maloz said. “You can take a long-range excavator
Terrebonne Parish Coastal Restoration Director Mart Black (left) and Thibodaux Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Clay Breaud look over maps before a Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority meeting in Thibodaux. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
guy and put him in an oilfield job or you could put him in a mitigation job.” In the coastal master plan, which features 120 projects, there are several to benefit Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes at a combined $14.8 billion cost. One of the larger projects includes an $8.3 billion upgrade to the 98-mile Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system, which would raise the levees to 15-16 feet. There are also several projects aimed to create marsh, including a $1.9 billion project that will create 25,000 acres of marsh to buffer south Lafourche’s levee system and Port Fourchon from storms and tides. Similar projects in Terrebonne are looking to create 25,000 acres of marsh south of Dulac and Dularge, as well as 13,000 acres of marsh southwest of Dularge. About $90 million will
be spent to pay for the plan, engineering and design of the Terrebonne Bay Rim Marsh Creation project. An additional $1.4 billion will be spent in Terrebonne and $400 million in Lafourche on flood-proofing nonresidential properties, elevating homes and acquiring residential properties with high flood risks. “In the Gulf of Mexico, and in particular coastal Louisiana, restoring the ecosystem and the environment does the restore the economy because we are so intrinsically linked,” Ehrenwerth said. “So not only is it important to note the direct economic impact of restoration projects, but you also need to keep in mind that so many sectors of our economy rely on the environment.” Ehrenwerth said the knowledge and expertise Louisiana has gained through working with water could also be exported. And Louisiana
firms and coastal restoration and water-sector workers could go to other states around the Gulf of Mexico, around the country and even other parts of the world. “You find many of these same challenges in coastal and deltaic environments all over the world,” Ehrenwerth said. “We happen to be at the tip of the spear when it comes to issues like sea level rise and getting ourselves ready for the next storm, but these issues are not unique. It’s our expertise, I think, that will continue to be needed in other parts of the country and other parts of the world, which again is a positive for the Louisiana economy and citizens of our state who are involved in the water sector.” —Staff Writer Holly Duchmann can be reached at 857-2205 or holly. duchmann@houmatoday. com. Follow her on Twitter @holly_evamarie.
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T E R R E B O N N E ’ S T O P 1 0 E M P L OY E R S
School Board has most employees in Terrebonne By Dan Boudreaux Staff Writer
1. Terrebonne Parish School Board When the Terrebonne School Board's 42 schools are in session, it employs teachers, administrative staff, bus drivers, maintenance, food service and other workers. It also pays the salaries of nine elected School Board members, who oversee the budget and make policies, as well as the superintendent, who runs the administrative office at 201 Stadium Drive, Houma. 2. Danos & Curole Marine Contractors The company moved its headquarters from Larose to a $10 million building, located at 3878 W. Main St. in Gray, in April 2015. The building is used for its headquarters and operational purposes, including payroll, human resources and management. Danos and Curole also has office in Larose, Lafayette, Houston and Nigeria, Africa. Allen Danos Sr. started the company over 60 years ago as a small tugboat manufacturer and it has grown into of the largest oilfield services companies in Louisiana.
Bishop Shelton Fabre (left) presides over the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, which is the No. 4 employer in Terrebonne Parish.[CHRIS HELLER/STAFF -HOUMATODAY/DAILYCOMET]
8. Rouses
Rouses Markets is one of the largest employers in the Houma-Thibodaux area and the largest independent grocery chain in 3. Terrebonne General the state. Rouses was founded in Medical Center 1960 by Anthony Rouse Sr. with four employees. Terrebonne General is The company is heada nonprofit public health quartered at 1301 St. care system with over Mary St., Thibodaux. 300 physicians and 321 licensed beds, officials 9. Leonard J. Chabert said. The hospital's services include those for Medical Center cancer, cardiovascular, The charity hospital, respiratory, orthopedics, now owned by Oschner, diabetes, neurology, provides services to pediatric and surgical under-insured people. care. About 50 people also volunteer there. It is It offers clinic training at 8166 Main St., Houma. to medical students and physicians. It's located 4. Catholic Diocese of at 1978 Industrial Blvd., Houma. Houma-Thibodaux Rouses is No. 8 among Terrebonne Parish’s top employers.[CHRIS HELLER/STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/DAILYCOMET]
The diocese, located at 2779 La. 311 in Schriever, oversees Catholic churches, schools and cemeteries in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes and some of those institutions are in parts of St. Mary, Jefferson, St. Martin and Assumption parishes. The majority of its employees work in Terrebonne Parish. 5. Terrebonne Parish Government Parish government employees include staff at City Court, the Houma Fire and Police departments, and staff directly under the Terrebonne Parish Council and Parish President Gordy Dove's supervision. Dove heads the administration -executive branch -- and the nine-member Parish Council serves as the legislative branch. It is located at 8026 Main St., Houma. 6. Wal-Mart The largest private employer worldwide offers a variety of services ranging from grocery, furniture, electronics, tire repair and pharmaceutical needs. There are Houma stores on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Grand Caillou Road, and a Sam's Club on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
10. Gulf Island Fabrication This company serves inshore and offshore platforms. Terrebonne's largest oil-platform maker, located at 583 Thompson Road, Houma, began making ships during the recession to help the company adapt to changes in the industry. It recently secured a $122 million contract with Oregon State University for an oceangoing research vessel.
Terrebonne's top employers These are Terrebonne's largest employers as reported for 2016: 1. Terrebonne Parish School Board- 2,316 employees. 2. Danos &Curole Marine Contractors- 1,585 employees. 3. Terrebonne General Medical Center- 1,494 employees. 4. Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux- 1,086 employees.
Paraprofessional Jolanda Harris packs up items from a pre-K classroom at Southdown Elementary School in Houma. The Terrebonne Parish School Board is the top employer in the parish.[CHRIS HELLER/ STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/ DAILYCOMET]
5. Terrebonne Parish Government- 1,011 employees.
7. Seacor Marine This offshore marine transportation company has offices worldwide to operate a fleet of offshore support vessels for the oil and gas industry. The services it offers includes crew transportation, platform supply, maintenance, safety services and anchoring and mooring. It's headquartered at 7910 Main St., Houma.
6. Wal-Mart- 880 employees. 7. Seacor Marine- 750 employees. 8. Rouses- 730 employees. 9. Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center- 650 employees. 10. Gulf Island Fabrication625 employees.
Nichol Ledet, Terrebonne General Medical Center nursing coordinator for rehabilitation, shows Dr. Hector Linares, medical director for rehabilitation services, the new Epic computer system at TGMC in Houma. TGMC is the parish’s No. 3 employer.[CHRIS HELLER/STAFF - HOUMATODAY/ DAILYCOMET]
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Thursday, September 21, 2017 C7
A former oilfield facility sits empty and for lease between Leeville and Port Fourchon. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
PRICES Continued from C1
barrel in the foreseeable future. In fact, there is some probability, although not a high one, that we could get a drop even lower than $48 per barrel for a short period toward the end of the year.” Automation has also impacted the industry, as machines have become able to do more of the tedious, often dangerous, work required on drilling rigs. The impact this will have on the humans who
once did those jobs, however, is another variable of the uncertainty facing the industry. Bloomberg News Service reported earlier this year that a third to half of the 440,000 jobs the industry lost worldwide may never come back. Industry sources told Bloomberg that robots and other technology are reducing the need for roustabouts. Experts said automation is the nature of the beast. “What you’ve got to watch in the Gulf is that the only way the Gulf is going to survive is through greater
efficiency,” Scott said. “It’s the only way they’ve survived so far. They’re figured out more clever ways to harvest the oil. That’s one of the things that happen in this industry. When things get bad these people get really clever to find ways to reduce costs. You may lose jobs, but that’s one of the ways the industry survives.” However, automation is not a driving force in the reduction of oilrelated jobs, Briggs said. “The primary cause for the job loss is the decreased rig activity in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. “The reduction of
drilling activity. There’s not even a close second. If you’ve got 75 percent fewer rigs running then you’re going to have a significant reduction of jobs.” Do the experts see any light at the end of the tunnel? It depends on who you ask, Briggs said. “What a rebound will look like will vary from person to person,” Briggs said. “I would say many people would view a rebound as getting back to where we were. In that regard we’re a long way away. Some people would say that we’re already bouncing back because we’re hiring employees
for the first time in a long time. But for many others it’s not a rebound because you still have significant job losses and people who can’t find work.” A rebounding oil economy in Terrebonne and Lafourche will depend greatly on the Gulf of Mexico and how quickly it can recover, Scott said. “The basic problem is the rig count has dropped from 56 to about 17,” Scott said. “There are several implications to that. First, I think the industry is going to need to see a clear signal about where prices are going. Are they going to settle in at $40, $65 or $50?
They need to see a clearer signal than what they’re seeing right now.” “The second thing is to watch your ship builders and suppliers,” Scott added. “They’ve got a problem because there’s no need for more ships right now. That’s going to be tricky for your area because you depend on what happens in the Gulf of Mexico more than any other place in the country.” —Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 857-2202 or at dan. copp@houmatoday. com. Follow him on Twitter@DanVCopp.
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L A F O U R C H E ’ S T O P 1 0 E M P L OY E R S
Edison Chouest is Lafourche’s top employer By Dan Boudreaux Staff Writer
Top 10 employers in Lafourche Parish as reported for 2016: 1. Edison Chouest Offshore Edison Chouest and its subsidiaries employ a workforce of more than 5,000 people spanning Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. Chouest, which includes more than 100 affiliated companies worldwide, performs offshore vessel and supply services. The company and its affiliates also design, construct and operate a variety of offshore vessels.Edison Chouest Offshore’s main offices are at 16201 E. Main St., Galliano. 2. Lafourche School Board The Lafourche Parish schools system employs 2,249 full- and part-time workers in 30 public schools parish wide. When school is in session, the system employs teachers; bus drivers; administrative staff; and maintenance, food service and other workers to assist its nearly 15,000 enrolled students. Its main office is at 805 E. Seventh St., Thibodaux. 3. C-Port Located at 106 Ninth St., Golden Meadow, C-Port employs an estimated 1,500 people in Lafourche Parish.A subsidiary of Edison Chouest, the one-stop port facility for deepwater service vessels was opened in 1996. 4. Thibodaux Regional Medical Center Thibodaux Regional Medical Center is a 185bed acute-care facility. The medical cnter has about 1,239 employees, which includes 226 physicians.Through its staff, the medical center offers various outpatient and inpatient services, such as a free-standing Cancer Center, a freestanding Outpatient Rehabilitation Center and several clinics in outlying parts of the region. The hospital also opened a $61 million Wellness Center. Greg Stock, CEO, and the five-member Board of Commissioners lead the hospital. 5. Wal-Mart stores The largest private employer worldwide has a part- and fulltime workforce of an estimated 900 in its Lafourche Parish stores. Its local Wal-Mart stores offer a variety of services ranging from grocery, electronics, tire repair and pharmaceutical needs.The Lafourche Parish Wal-Marts are located at 16759 La. 3235, Galliano; 410 N. Canal Blvd., Thibodaux; and 4876 La. 1, Mathews.
The C-Port is the third-largest employer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
has emerged as a major part of the oil and gas industry. The company employs 800 people in Lafourche Parish.Its corporate headquarters are at 18838 La. 3235, Galliano. 8. Bollinger Shipyards Bollinger Shipyards Inc. employs 650 people at its three Lafourche yards.According to the company’s website, Bollinger provides construction, repair and conversion products, and services to the military and commercial-marine industry. Family owned and operated since 1946, Bollinger Shipyards specializes in a wide variety of offshore and inland vessels.Bollinger operated 16 facilities, including 13 shipyards mostly in south Louisiana and one in Texas. The yards have direct access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River.
Bollinger Shipyards is the eighth-largest employer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
9. Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a tax-supported institution in Thibodaux with 6,366 students enrolled this fall. The university estimates it has 618 part- and fulltime faculty, staff and employees.Nicholls first opened in 1948 as Francis T. Nicholls Junior College of Louisiana State University. In 1956, the Legislature separated the college from the LSU system and the university became a four-year institution. The university officially changed its name to Nicholls State University in 1970. Nicholls’ campus on the banks of Bayou Lafourche includes 210 acres. The university offers associate, bachelor, master and specialist degrees through its six academic colleges.
6. Crosby Tugs Crosby Tugs was founded in 1977 by Vinton and Kurt Crosby when it acquired its first vessel, the Paddy Crosby, according to the company’s website.Since then, it has grown into one of the largest privately owned marine transportation businesses in the industry.It now employs 850 people and is headquartered at 17771 La. 3235, Galliano. 7. Grand Isle Shipyard Established in 1948 by Clyde and Ouida Pregeant, Grand Island Shipyard started out serving the commercial fishing industry, but now
10. John Deere Thibodaux
The Lafourche Parish School Board is the second-largest employer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/ HOUMATODAY]
Formerly called Cane Machinery & Engineering and Cameco Industries Inc., John Deere employs an estimated 550 people. Founded in 1965, the company designs, builds and markets sugar-cane equipment such as loaders, harvester tractors and other construction equipment. John Deere Thibodaux serves customers in Louisiana, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Daryl Sholz in the company’s president and general manager. The company changed its named from Cameco in May 2006 to take on the John Deere brand name.
Lafourche’s largest employers in 2016. 1. Edison Chouest Offshore 3,400 employees. 2. Lafourche School Board 2,249 employees. 3. C-Port - 1,500 employees. 4. Thibodaux Regional Medical Center - 1,239 employees. 5. Walmart stores - 900 employees. 6. Crosby Tugs - 850 employees. 7. Grand Isle Shipyard - 800 employees. 8. Bollinger Shipyards - 650 employees. 9. Nicholls State University 618 employees. 10. John Deere Thibodaux 550 employees.
Nicholls State University is the ninthlargest employer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY
Thibodaux Regional Medical Center is the fourth-largest employer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/
TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
HOUMATODAY]
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WORKERS Continued from C1
school in 1998. During the course of his career, he followed the money and jumped between companies to whoever was giving the most work and eventually worked in plug and abandonment. When the oilfield began to crash in 2014, Pye was one of the lucky workers because the company kept him working, he said. The amount of jobs he worked, however, decreased over time and he eventually became "one of the unfortunate casualties."Pye was laid off Jan. 17 in a conference call with his boss and supervisors and became one of the thousands of those in the region looking for a new job. He applied to anyone who was hiring, he said, from the parish government to cable companies and even restaurants. But didn’t have any luck until May when he was hired in a scrap yard. Despite these challenges, Pye said he’s never regretted going into the oilfield because people in the field are highly trained and extremely experienced at what they do, and he’s eager to go back offshore. “Right now, I have to struggle and fight to get back in the oilfield,” the 41-year-old said. “I have three kids, and medical bills get expensive. I don’t have time to go back to school to be a nurse or something like that, it’s just not going to happen. I would love to get out the oilfield and be home every night and be with my kids, but I have to make a choice. When I see oil companies posting that they’re hiring, I’m going to put my application in.”Pye recently accepted a position as a rigger, and was supposed to go offshore in
late August. But because of Hurricane Harvey, the trip was delayed. Compared to his previous position he was working last year, Pye will take a significant pay cut working as a rigger and will be making $2,000 less a month, he estimated. Despite the challenges and the uncertainty of the industry, Pye said he would keep fighting to work in the oilfield, but his last straw would be if he had to continue to push forward and work against 18-yearolds for a long period of time who are also working in the field. For his wife Michele, the final straw would be if he got laid off again. “It’s been rough,” Michele Pye said. “Between his job and the deaths in my family, all this takes not only a financial toll on you, there’s the emotional, mental and physical toll, just everything. It’s just a big, big toll on a person. It affects the marriage. It affects the kids." At Fletcher Technical Community College in Schriever, many of the students enrolled in the Integrated Production Technology program are oil industry workers looking to further their careers, according to department head Hebert McCoy. Since the oil industry’s downturn, enrollment in the program has dropped as students either moved away with their parents or because they couldn’t afford school anymore, said McCoy. While the program used to have 200 students, the past two semesters, the number has been hovering around 120-130, he estimated. “We don’t tell them they have to go into the production offshore business. They go where they find a comfortable job, but there are several companies around here who are looking at our students and hiring
them,” McCoy said. McCoy said the students know the volatility of the industry right now. “But if they have an applied associates science degree in integrated production technology, they have a real good foot up to get into a company, get into a job if they did get laid off," McCoy said. "We tell them to take what they have right now, get the experience and use it for their next job."For Thomas Nolan of Houma, he took his layoff from Halliburton in May 2015 as a maintenance supervisor as an opportunity to start a small business, using his severance money to purchase kettle corn equipment. As the oil industry began to plummet, Nolan said everybody was looking to see what they were going to do next. In preparation of the impending layoffs, he even sold his truck and bought a cheaper truck, he said.“Everybody knew (layoffs) were coming, it was just a matter of time when it was going to get here,” Nolan said.He knew it would be difficult to find another job in the oilfield or even a job in general where he would make as much money as he did in the oilfield, so he decided he would go to work for himself popping kettle corn. “I literally could have paid bills for two months and then I would have lost my house, my vehicle and all that ‘cause I wouldn’t have been able to find another job,” Nolan said. “If I try this and it doesn’t work out, I could at least sell the equipment and make my money back.”Since he entered the kettle corn business as Big Easy Kettle Co., the Mississippi native has expanded to sell lemonades, pork skins and cotton candy, and is aiming to be able to work full time for himself within the next year or two. He’s in the
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Thomas Nolan used his severance money from being laid off from his oilfield job in 2015 to start his kettle corn company. [SUBMITTED PHOTO]
process of changing the name to Coastal Concessions to reflect the new additions to his menu, and he attends most of the events in Terrebonne and Lafourche, including Thibodaux’s farmer’s market each Saturday. In the future, he wants to sell funnel cakes, get more trailers
so his business can go to more events and possibly even open his own restaurant.“A lot of people get comfortable with what they’re doing, but for me, you have to be uncomfortable to grow, and like what they say, if there’s no risk, there’s no reward,” Nolan said. “To me, it was a big risk, but
it’s very rewarding. And in just two years, I’ve grown double to what I was doing. It’s worked out for me. I love it.” —Staff Writer Holly Duchmann can be reached at 857-2205 or holly. duchmann@houmatoday. com. Follow her on Twitter @holly_evamarie.
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
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The Courier & Daily Comet
T E R R E B O N E ’ S T O P 1 0 TA X PAY E R S
Hilcorp Energy remains No. 1 Terrebonne taxpayer By Dan Boudreaux Staff Writer
Top 10 taxpayers in Terrebonne Parish as reported for 2016 are: 1. Hilcorp Energy Co. Formed in 1989 for acquiring oil and gas properties, this privately held corporation also owns gas-processing and gas-gathering facilities. Headquartered in Houston, Hilcorp’s primary operating areas are the Gulf Coast and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. It has been the top taxpayer in Terrebonne Parish every year since 2009. Its assessed value has decreased over $7 million since 2014. Assessed value:
$33,668,006. Tax bill: $3,382,200.68. 2. Petroleum Helicopters Inc. Flying up to 250 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, PHI’s helicopter fleet provides transportation to offshore oil and gas companies and includes medically equipped aircraft. PHI has a base at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport at Augustus Brown Field. It is based in Lafayette and operates in more than 40 countries.
Petroleum Helicopters Inc. is the second-biggest taxpayer in Terrebonne Parish.[CHRIS HELLER/STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/DAILYCOMET]
America. Assessed value:
$8,185,250. Tax bill: $803,985.82. 7. South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association
SLECA serves over 17.000 members in Terrebonne Parish and is recognized as having the 3. Zydeco Pipeline Co. lowest rates in Louisiana. Its offices are located in A Houston-based Houma and Amelia. It’s subsidiary of Shell a nonprofit corporation Midstream Operating that’s jointly owned by L.L.C. since May 18, 2015, its members and says it Zydeco Pipeline Co. owns charges only as much as over 350 miles of crude necessary to cover operoil pipeline from Houma ating costs. to Houston. It is a new Assessed value: arrival on Terrebonne $7,648,410. Parish’s Top 10 list as it Tax bill: $740,482.88. was founded in 2014 and the pipeline now provides 8. Gulf Island Marine U.S. Gulf Coast refineries Fabrication with pipeline access. Assessed value: This Houston-based $19,896,770. Gulf Island Marine Fabrication is the eighth-largest taxpayer in Terrebonne Parish.[CHRIS HELLER/STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/ corporation deals in Tax bill: $1,809,865.18. fabrication, maintenance DAILYCOMET] and servicing of struc4. SCF Marine Inc. tures facilities and vessels in the energy industry. The St. Louis-based It deals not just in oil division of SEACOT and gas, but also works Holdings Inc controls in renewable energy by more than 1,200 barges. creating wind turbines. Assessed value: The division offers $7,118,600. transportation on the Tax bill: $706,798.53. Mississippi River and tributaries for the Gulf. 9. Marmac L.L.C. It has dropped from the third place spot since Based out of Metairie, 2014. this company offers barge Assessed value: rentals, marine transport, $10,519,800. Tax bill: $1,070,249.55. towing services and dock space in both Channel5. Entergy Louisiana view, Texas, and Harvey. It employs about 50 Up from its No. 7 employees and maintains spot in 2014, this New a fleet landing in Bayou Orleans-based Fortune Black. 500 company serves Assessed value: about 1 million electric $6,751,160. customers in 58 parishes Tax bill: $673,968.30. and employs about 4,500 people in the state. 10. Weatherford U.S. Assessed value:
$24,947,635. Tax bill: $1,960,162.93.
Assessed value:
$11,505,740. Tax bill: $1,062,966.24. 6. Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Jumping three places forward since 2014, the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline spans about 10,200 miles with a capacity of 9.7 billion cubic feet per day. Transcontinental is one of the largest interstate pipeline systems in North
Founded in 1941 in Texas, Weatherford provides products and services for the drilling evaluation, completion and intervention of oil and natural gas wells. It dropped from its fifth place position in 2014 and its assessed value has dropped nearly $4.5 million since then.
Tracy Marlbrough loads raw material into a machine at the Weatherford International plant in Schriever. Weatherford is Terrebonne Parish’s No. 10 taxpayer.[CHRIS HELLER/STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/DAILYCOMET]
Assessed value:
$6,767,945. Tax bill: $610,062.56.
Chevron is the third-largest taxpayer in Lafourch Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
Hilcorp Energy Co. is the No. 1 taxpayer in Terrbonne Parish. [CHRIS HELLER/STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/DAILYCOMET]
The Courier & Daily Comet
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Thursday, September 21, 2017 C11
“We have weathered the storm well because we have really good people who bought into the purpose of our company, the values of our company, and are helping us to come up with creative solutions...” Paul Danos
Offshore vessels are docked at Port Fourchon. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
MARITIME Continued from C1
contract to build cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard. Last year, the company received a contract for 26 more of the ships. Bollinger representatives declined to be interviewed for this story. Scott said the maritime industry needs the Gulf of Mexico oil rig count to increase. “The Gulf has gone from 56 rigs down to around 20,” he said. “They got to around 17 at
one point. There are more production platforms moving into the Gulf. There have been 12-14 new production platforms that have moved into the Gulf in the last few years. A production platform requires about a fifth of the number of supply boats that a drill ship does. What the marine side needs is the drilling part to come back in the Gulf.” Scott doesn’t expect enough change in the next couple of years to convince companies that operate in the Gulf to make major investments. “You’re talking about
seven to 10 years of planning to drill and harvest,” he said. “They need to see oil prices well above $50 and be of the belief that it’s going to stay there or go higher.” Although Danos, based in Gray, doesn’t own or operate any vessels, it does have employees who work offshore, mostly on platforms. Executive Vice President Paul Danos said activity has dropped since the downturn, but he doesn’t believe the company has been hit as hard as others. It peaked in 2014 with just over 2,000 employees
and now has a little over 1,800 – a 10 percent reduction. The company’s new corporate headquarters, unveiled in 2015, shows a long-term commitment to the area, Danos said. But Danos said employees are at the heart of the company’s success. “We have weathered the storm well because we have really good people who bought into the purpose of our company, the values of our company, and are helping us to come up with creative solutions to add value in the downturn
that we’ve been in for a few years,” he said. “You can’t take boats to midland, so that’s a hot area. We’ve been able to transfer people and assets to places like that. The midstream market has fared better than the upstream market in this downturn because production has been robust and there’s been a need for additional capacity to move product via pipeline.” This is the company’s 70th year in business, and Danos is optimistic about what the future holds. “Certainly, renewables are out there, and we’ll continue to play a part
in the energy puzzle,” he said. “But oil and gas and the services we provide are going to be relevant for a long time to come. Things are going to turn around. We’re staying focused on executing well, doing a good job for our customers, really listening to where they’re going and understanding changes in the market. We’re excited about the prospects going forward.” -- Staff Writer Bridget Mire can be reached at 448-7639 or bridget. mire@dailycomet.com. Follow her on Twitter @ bridget_mire.
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
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The Courier & Daily Comet
L A F O U R C H E ’ S T O P 1 0 TA X PAY E R S
Offshore companies are Lafourche’s highest taxpayers By Dan Boudreaux Staff Writer
Top taxpayers in Lafourche Parish as reported for 2016 are: 1. Nautical Solutions This Galliano-based Edison Chouest Offshore affiliate owns and operates much of Chouest’s fleet, including offshore supply vessels, tugboats and anchor vessels. In 2015, it was in third place at an assessed value of $27,087,000 and a tax bill of $3,570,956.02. Assessed value:
$40,806,170. Tax bill: $5,253,212.25. 2. Hornbeck Offshore Services The Lafourche holdings of Hornbeck, a Covington-based company, operated a fleet of 62 offshore service vessels. It was the top taxpayer in 2013 and 2015, but dropped to the No. 2 spot even though its assessed value only dropped by just under $23,000. The fleet also includes tugs and barges that service refining, marketing and trading companies. Assessed value:
$39,619,930. Tax bill: $5,100,391.52.
Otto Candies is the eighth-largest taxpayer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
3. Chevron/Texaco Exploration and Production The international oil-industry giant, headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., operates a series of pipelines and wells in Lafourche. Its assessed value is down over $15 million from 2015 from when it was the secondhighest taxpayer. Assessed value:
$22,400,300. Tax bill: $2,872,175.64. 4. Bristow U.S. Bristow U.S. is a New Iberia-based company that provides aviation services. The company offers helicopter transportation, search and rescue, aircraft support, maintenance and training services. Bristow was not on the Top 10 in 2014. Assessed value:
$21,757,370. Tax bill: $2,807,788.60. 5. GulfMark Americas Inc. Based out of Houston, GulfMark Americas Inc. provides offshore transportation services and operates crewboats, deepwater platform supply vessels and fast supply vessels. It was founded in 2002 with a net worth of just $431,000. GulfMark Americas Inc. was not on the Top 10 in 2014. Assessed value:
$18,630,400. Tax bill: $2,401,960.25. 6. Loop The company, formed in 1972 to manage the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, is owned by Marathon Pipe Line, Murphy OilCorp and Shell Oil. The Gulf Facility, about 18 miles southeast of Port Fourchon, is the only port in the U.S. capable of off-loading deepdraft supertankers. Its assessed value increased over $700,000 since 2015, but it dropped from the fourth place back to fifth place. Assessed value:
$17,542,490. Tax bill: $2,249,232.26. 7. Texas Petroleum Investment Co. Texas Petroleum Investment Co. is a Houston-based oil and natural gas company that holds numerous oil fields in Texas and one in Louisiana. It was founded in 1989 and is another new company to the Top 10 list.
Entergy is the 10th-largest taxpayer in Lafourche Parish. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
Assessed value:
$17,510,510. Tax bill: $2,222,189.74. 8. Otto Candies This Des Allemandsbased company operated multiple oil-service vessels that have the capability to perform pipeline and subsea inspections, maintenance, repairs and installation with some vessels certified for saturation diving. It’s down for the second year in a row, having dropped from the fourth spot in 2013 and the fifth spot in 2015 even though its assessed value and tax bill have increased slightly. Assessed value:
$16,959,560. Tax bill: $2,188,575.38. 9. Mars Oil Pipeline Co. Hornbeck Offshore Services is Lafourche Parish’s second-biggest taxpayer. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
The Shell-operated system provides access from the deepwater Mississippi Canyon areas into Chevron Texaco’s Fourchon terminal and the LOOP-operated Clovelly Terminal. It has dropped two spots since 2015 from the seventh place spot although its assessed value has increased almost $1.5 million. Assessed value:
$15,282,760. Tax bill: $1,965,362.92.
10. Entergy Louisiana The largest electricity provider for the parish, Entergy pays property taxes on its electricity infrastructure throughout. It has held on to its No. 10 spot from 2014 with its assessed value increasing by just $2.9 million. Assessed value:
$15,282,760. Tax bill: $1,878,425.41.
Bristow is Lafourche Parish’s fourth-largest taxpayer. [ABBY TABOR/ STAFF -DAILYCOMET/ HOUMATODAY]
The Courier & Daily Comet
DIVERSIFY Continued from C1
you’ve got to insure you can get the workforce and ensure it’s complimentary to what the economy already is,” Rookard said. Rookard said oilfield skills can be translated into coastal restoration, and the parish needs to pinpoint ways to retrain and certify workers to make that transition. “The parish has done a great job at funding the protection work on projects like the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system,” Rookard said. “What you see when you step back and look is that the skill set in coastal restoration and the oil and gas industry are very complimentary, meaning that a worker in oil and gas with minimal training could end up being a coastal restoration worker during the downtime and vice versa.” With all of its helicopter activity, the Houma-Terrebonne Airport is a veritable repository of potential opportunities for economic diversity, Rookard said. “Although the helicopter activity there may be driven almost exclusively by the oil and gas industry, it gives us an opportunity to really explore other things related to that,” Rookard said. “You could have a maintenance and repair shop there that employs people that can support other aircraft in the state and along the Gulf Coast.” Professional office services are other areas that TEDA hopes to expand in the near future. “A lot of these oil and gas companies have a lot of back office work and we think we might be able to leverage some of that
work into more permanent jobs for this area,” Rookard said. Although economic diversification is important, it shouldn’t come at the expanse of the area’s cultural identity, said Vic Lafont, South Louisiana Economic Council president and CEO. “I don’t know if getting completely away from your trade is the answer,” Lafont said. “If you have a craft and a trade and are known for it and renowned for it, you should diversify your customer base. You need to find different ways to do what you know. We shouldn’t diversify at the expense of our traditional historic trades. We shouldn’t have to give up what we do best to survive. We just need to find a way to make them better.” Other parishes have also made efforts to diversify their economies. For example, in the years following the 1980s oil bust, Lafayette has bolstered its technology sector to lessen its reliance on energy. According to the Lafayette Economic Development Authority CEO Gregg Gothreaux, 70 percent of Lafayette’s economy was reliant on energy in the 1980s. Today that number has plummeted to 32 percent. One of the ingredients Lafayette used to diversify its economy was technology. More than 1,100 software and technology jobs will be created in the next five years in Lafayette. “Technology has become Lafayette’s most important diversification factor in the 21st century,” Gothreaux said. “With five major business recruitment announcements since 2014 and other projects in the works, Lafayette has firmly established itself as a technology hub, not only in the South but in
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Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes have long relied on the oil and seafood industries, but diversification is becoming a future goal.[ABBY TABOR/STAFF -- DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
the entire U.S. This is a key element in retaining graduates, bringing previous grads back to the region, and attracting new talent to our vibrant community. Diversifying south Louisiana’s economy represents a challenge because seafood, oil and gas are the economy’s lifeblood, Lafont said. However, while some may view living on the water’s edge as a liability, Lafont sees it as an opportunity. “Technology is the key,” Lafont said. “When you inject a company with technology and innovation, they reinvent not just themselves but their service base. That’s what got us out of the 1980s oil bust.” Diversifying the economy is going to take time, leadership, hard work and planning, Rookard said. The community has to work together to lessen the impact of perceived
negatives such as crime and a lack of interesting things to attract young professionals. “This is not something that’s going to happen overnight or even over a course of three years,” Rookard said. “You have to continuously chip away and think differently about the
opportunities before us. I think we’ve made significant progress and have some projects in the works.” --Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 857-2202 or at dan. copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter@ DanVCopp.
With all of its helicopter activity, the HoumaTerrebonne Airport poses potential opportunities for economic diversity, including maintenance and repair of other aircraft. [ABBY TABOR/STAFF -DAILYCOMET/HOUMATODAY]
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
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The Courier & Daily Comet