ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19945 

STUDY TITLE: A Socioeconomic Analysis of the Port Expansion at Port Fourchon 

REPORT TITLE: Lafourche Parish and Port Fourchon, Louisiana: Effects of the Outer 

Continental Shelf Petroleum Industry on the Economy and Public Services, Part 1 

CONTRACT NUMBER: 14-35-0001-30660-19945 

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Gulf of Mexico 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA: Central Gulf of Mexico 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: February 2001 

COST: FY 1999: $5,000 

PROJECT MANAGER: Diane C. Keithley, Ph.D 

AFFILIATION: Independent 

ADDRESS: 13913 Hootsell Court, Baton Rouge, LA 70816 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Diane C. Keithley, Ph.D 

KEY WORDS: Central Gulf of Mexico: impact assessment; survey; Port Fourchon 

BACKGROUND: Port Fourchon, located in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, is an onshore 

land base for deepwater offshore oil and gas exploration and development. The port 

expanded during the 1990’s due to increased deepwater activity on the Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS). Offshore oil and gas activity has had an impact on the port 

and the local community. 

OBJECTIVES: (1) Describe the development and activity of Port Fourchon; (2) 

describe the impact of OCS deepwater oil and gas exploration on the port and the local 

community. 

DESCRIPTION: The study deals with the OCS deepwater oil and gas exploitation in 

the Central Gulf of Mexico and its effect on Port Fourchon and the adjacent human 

community. Port Fourchon is located in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, in the 

southwestern part of the state. Impacts discussed in this report include those related to 

infrastructure such as La. Highway 1 and the supply of potable water as well as effects 

on law enforcement, education and religion. 

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: Recent developments in offshore deepwater oil and 

gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico have brought economic benefits to 

both Port Fourchon and Lafourche Parish. Increased economic activity is associated 

with the provision of onshore support for the offshore oil and gas industry. The 
ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19945 

demands, however, of this growth have meant new challenges for the port and the 

surrounding community. The condition of the roads, the volume of traffic, and the water 

system’s current expansion reflect strains on the infrastructure. Municipal and parish 

officials express concern over the stresses of traffic control, crime prevention and law 

enforcement. Public school leaders need multilingual, multicultural teachers not readily 

available. 

STUDY RESULTS: Port Fourchon is Louisiana’s only port directly adjacent to the Gulf 

of Mexico. It is located on the coast of Lafourche Parish and is strategically positioned 

to serve industrial activity associated with exploiting the vast oil and gas resources 

offshore in the Gulf. Although a relatively young port when compared with New Orleans 

of Galveston, Port Fourchon is growing at a visible rate due to the increase of petroleum 

development on the Outer Continental Shelf. 

Two companies had located on port property by 1978; as of August, 1999, there were 

124 companies there. Leasing activity on port land increased from 50 lessees and 113 

businesses in June of 1998; to 54 lessees and 124 businesses in May of 1999, less 

than a year later. The physical size of the port has grown from about 25 acres in 1980 

to nearly 600 acres as of August, 1999. Port Fourchon is a multi-use port servicing the 

needs of oil and gas development, commercial fishing, recreation, and shipping as well 

as providing the land base for the Louisiana Offshore Port Authority (LOOP). 

Much of the increase, however, in economic activity attributable to the port from 1994 to 

1999 is due to the rapid expansion of oil and gas development in water depths of 1,000 

feet (300 meters) or more in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to its strategic location to 

service exploitation of these deepwater sites, Port Fourchon has the only facility in the 

world offering one-stop shopping, as it were. It is called C-Port and allows supply 

vessels to take on fuel, water, deck cargo, barites, cements, liquid muds and completion 

fluids all at one place, under a covered dock and in less than 24 hours. Anywhere else, 

this process would take from two to three days, a heavy cost to ship owners and 

platform operators. 

Such increases are not all positive. The highway system and potable water supply are 

both inadequate to meet current as well as future demands. Louisiana Highway 1 is the 

only land access to the port. The highway is a two-lane road with runs along Bayou 

Lafourche and through several small communities, flooding during storms and often 

impassable due to weather and traffic accidents. Local business and industry also face 

shortages in skilled labor. Local schools and law enforcement also are affected by the 

larger numbers of people in and around the port. Schools and other local agencies 

must spend more money to meet the needs of a growing population, nearly half of who 

are Spanish-speaking. Life-long residents are French-Arcadian and not accustomed to 

people who speak neither French nor English. 

Police and sheriff officers now face a near doubling in the number of transients in the 

parish. According to these officials, transients make enforcement and apprehension 

more difficult because they are unknown to one another and they lack social ties, which 
ACCESS NUMBER: 30660-19945 

help to maintain law and order in any community. Higher levels of traffic congestion and 

accidents and fatalities also are results of increased activity offshore. The unique 

geography of the parish, which is nearly 100 miles long and divided by Bayou 

Lafourche, combined with the lack of a good secondary road system create major 

obstacles to traffic flow. 

STUDY PRODUCT: Diane C. Keithley, Ph.D. 2001. Lafourche Parish and Port 

Fourchon, Louisiana: Effects of the Outer Continental Shelf Petroleum Industry on the 

Economy and Public Services, Part 1. A final report for the U.S. Department of the 

Interior, Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, La. 

Contract No. 14-35-0001-30660-19945/PO 54185. 79 pp