Inland offshore Drilling Rig
in the
Bayou Pigeon _Grand Lake vector
On Dec. 18, 2015 after 40 years of ban, the U.S. Congress lifted the U.S. Oil Export ban. U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, said, “Lifting the ban will create thousands of jobs here in Louisiana and nearly 1 million jobs nationwide, while lowering prices at the pump and strengthening our national security.
This could be a real boom for all of South Louisiana. but more importantly the levee communities on the Atchafalaya Basin eg., Bayou Pigeon, Belle River, Pierre Part and especially Morgan city.
How? Why ?
“Rising from the Ashes”
New overseas demand may make it economic feasible for the deeper drilling of old oil & gas fields. With a history of over 65 years of production, there are many old oil fields in the Atchafalaya where the deep oil and gas potential has not been adequately tested. The deeper production is far better than from the original shallow wells, .
With this news in mind, I thought I would share with ya'll a pictorial essay on just such one of these wells. At the time of this drilling I did not realize this was one those “Rising from the Ashes”oil fields. Note that deep drilling has some safety issues to deal with, ie., poisonous sulfide gas and high pressures.
These rigs are towering structures !
Most folks remember the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo blowout) which began on 20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-owned Transocean-operated Macondo Prospec. Part of the problem was the Blowout Preventers. In case you have never seen a blowout preventer the above pictures is of the blowout preventers on this well.
Drilling in the Atchafalaya Basin has gotten a lot more complicated because it is a National Heritage Area and covered by Federal 'Wetlands' Rules and regulations. Technology has made drilling a lot safer. More drilling should require more support services and jobs for our communities. Let's do it safely and environmental sound.
Enjoy !
