Ready today, ready for tomorrow

This phrase encapsulates the strategy we have long embraced at Port Fourchon.

Certainly, as with the industry we serve, we must adapt to the challenging business environment we continue to face. But, we also recognize that this cycle, like those before, will eventually change for the better, and we must be ready.

Port Fourchon Executive Director Chett Chiasson.

To that end, our visionary port commission put steps in motion late last year that are bringing us closer to our committed goal of ensuring the Port Fourchon of tomorrow continues to be the unrivaled choice for those operating in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. First, we have long recognized that the new-generation rigs and offshore support vessels required for tomorrow’s deepwater and ultra-deepwater projects will require new-generation port facilities, which, in turn, require deeper drafts throughout much of the port. Therefore, last August, after some two years of negotiation, the port commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), paving the way for a comprehensive study to determine the environmental and economic feasibility of deepening the main channels in the port to accommodate deeper-draft rigs and vessels.

At the end of September, the commission followed that agreement by taking a right of first refusal on an undeveloped 900-acre parcel just south of Port Fourchon, where we hope to begin development of the Gulf Coast’s first fit-for-purpose deepwater rig repair and maintenance facility within the next three years. We are currently negotiating the final lease framework for the property.

Importantly, we emphasize that this proposed facility is not intended to generate competition with ports elsewhere, but meant to ensure that rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico are not forced to leave when it comes time for repair or refurbishment. In other words, this is one more step in our commitment to affirm that Port Fourchon will continue to be recognized as the industry’s only one-stop source for every conceivable service and commodity needed to deliver hydrocarbons from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Of course, at the same time, we are keenly aware of the struggles our varied and high-quality tenants face as fewer rigs operate in the Gulf, and dramatically reduce demand for the services and equipment they provide. In response, the port commission’s new 20% discount on basic land rentals extends throughout 2017, which was first granted in April 2015. After all, our tenants represent the heart of Port Fourchon, and their continued vitality is absolutely critical to our vision for the port of tomorrow. The leading edge technologies and services they provide, buoyed with the full support of a progressive port authority, clearly illustrate why Port Fourchon is widely identified as  “The Gulf’s Energy Connection.” 

Above all, our vision is forged in the knowledge that the deepwater Gulf of Mexico will remain one of the nation’s primary energy sources well into the future. We at Port Fourchon are more than ready to help meet that demand, both today and tomorrow.