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Kathleen Blanco News

15 May 2013

Megan Bel Joins National Ocean Industries Association Staff

Megan Bel joined the staff of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) as Senior Director, Government and Political Affairs. She comes to NOIA from the Office of Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) where she served as Legislative Director since 2008. She also recently served as Deputy Director of the Republican Study Committee. Bel staffed Congressman Scalise’s House Energy and Commerce Committee work from 2009-2013 and his House Natural Resources Committee work in 2008. She also advised the Congressman in his roles on the Gulf Coast Caucus, Western Caucus, House Energy Action Team and the Natural Gas Caucus. During and after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill…

30 Jul 2008

Louisiana Touts its Offshore Oil Drilling

— Flying in National Guard Black Hawk helicopters 500 feet above the bayous and marshes along the Mississippi River delta last week, officials tried to show visiting state lawmakers the benefits of offshore drilling for oil and gas. The $70 billion industry employs more than 320,000 people in the state. Unemployment rates in some coastal parishes hover around 3.5 percent, compared to 5.5 percent nationally. And the oil industry supports both the only deep-sea oil port in the and a Gulf of Mexico port that handles more vessels than even the . While states on the east and west coasts debate whether to drill for offshore oil and natural gas…

08 Oct 2007

Billions in Bids Opened For Offshore Oil And Gas Tracts

A total of $2.9b in high bids were opened recently at a sale of federal offshore oil and gas leases in the central Gulf of Mexico. Officials say it was the second largest such sale for central Gulf tracts. Seventy-three companies are competing for the tracts. In all there were 1,428 bids on 723 tracts. The bids were opened by the US Minerals Management Service, which manages the leases. Many of the tracts receiving bids were in ultra-deep water, or in depths of 800 meters or greater. Development of such leases can take hundreds of millions of dollars in investments and take years to bring into production. Also drawing continued interest were tracts of 200 meters or less on the shallow Gulf shelf.

04 Jan 2007

Feds OK LNG Terminal off La.

Petroleum producer McMoRan Exploration Co. has received final approval for a $1 b liquefied natural gas project off Louisiana's coast, including storage caverns in an offshore salt dome, the company announced Thursday. The go-ahead from MarAd was the last needed for the Main Pass Energy Hub, sources said. The record accompanying the decision was 46 pages long and outlines requirements that will be put into the license. The facility will handle imported natural gas that has been liquefied in order to take up less space and be more easily transported by tankers. In the LNG process, natural gas is chilled to -256 degrees Fahrenheit, turning it from a gas to a liquid, and moved into heavily insulated storage tanks.

09 Aug 2006

Judge Hears Arguments on Gulf Leases

A judge on August 8 did not immediately rule on a request by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to block an upcoming sale of federal natural gas and oil leases in the western Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit seeks to stop the Minerals Management Service from selling 4,000 blocks of ocean bottoms on August 16. The suit claims that the federal government has not done enough to ensure that offshore drilling does not do unacceptable environmental damage to Louisiana's wetlands. Blanco's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Kurt Englehardt for a temporary injunction to stop the sale, but Englehardt took the case under advisement and said he would rule on on August 11 or August 14. He gave no indication how he might rule.

05 Jul 2006

Moular Barge Mounted Coal to Liquids Facility

Waller Marine, Inc. of Houston has been selected as part of the Project Team for the initial Feasibility Study of the $5b Geismer, La., Clean Coal to Liquid Fuels Project, recently announced by the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco and the Leaders of Shanyang Borough of Shanghai City, China. Acclaimed as the World’s first Coal to Gasoline Project Waller Marine, Inc, will provide the marine engineering and management support to the modular design concept developed by the Company for the facility’s construction, transportation and installation at the designated operating site in Geismer, Louisiana. The initial work shall be carried out under a Feasibility Study Service Agreement between Sino Global International…

11 May 2006

ConocoPhillips Set on LNG Pans

According to The Daily Advertiser, ConocoPhillips has no intentions of altering its plans to build an open-loop liquefied natural gas terminal off the southwest Louisiana coast in light of the governor's decision last week to veto a similar project. A spokes-man for ConocoPhillips said the company is going forward with its already laid plans for Beacon Port, a proposed LNG terminal about 50 miles offshore from Cameron Parish. Gov. Kathleen Blanco on May 5 exercised her power to veto an LNG terminal proposed by Freeport McMoRan off the Plaquemines Parish coast. Blanco cited environmental concerns about the terminal's effect on Gulf fisheries - it would use 100 million to 200 million of gallons of seawater a day to re-heat the super-cooled gas…

08 May 2006

Blanco Vetoes Proposed LNG Project

Gov. Kathleen Blanco late on May 5 vetoed a proposed offshore natural gas port over concerns that fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico could be harmed. Blanco had until May 7 to file any objections to a proposed federal license for the Main Pass Energy Hub, a liquefied natural gas terminal being sought by Freeport McMoRan Energy LLC, a subsidiary of New Orleans-based McMoRan Exploration Co. "Until studies demonstrate that the operation of the open rack vaporizer will not have an unacceptable impact on the surrounding ecosystem, I will only support LNG terminals using a closed loop system having negligible impacts to marine life," Blanco said in a letter sent on May 5 to Julie A. Nelson, acting deputy maritime administrator and chief counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

05 Jun 2006

Louisiana, Coast Guard Sign Maritime Safety Pact

According to a news press release from Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and state of Louisiana formalized an important maritime security partnership Tuesday with the signing of a memorandum of agreement. The release stated that in August 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law the "Coast Guard Maritime Security Act of 2004" which, among other things, empowers any state or local government law enforcement officer who has the authority to enforce state criminal laws to also enforce violations of federal safety and security zones. According to the release, this agreement sets forth the framework…

17 Feb 2006

Offshore Lease Threat Leads to Uncertainty

Gov. Kathleen Blanco's threat to block oil and gas leases off the Louisiana coast until the state gets a larger share of the revenue to restore its coast has gotten the attention of Washington, although it's uncertain whether the stand will pay off. According to the Times-Picayune, the Minerals Management Service, which oversees the drilling program, acknowledges that it must seek comments from governors of states in which it plans to bid offshore leasing arrangements. But it's uncertain whether it must honor their objections. The agency would examine any comments from Blanco or other governors but is still likely to proceed with awarding drilling rights off the Louisiana coast. The next round of leases is scheduled for August. A challenge from Blanco could end up in the courts.

16 Feb 2006

Port New Orleans Pleads for Aid

According to reports, the Port of New Orleans is in dire need of federal and state aid to save some of its most damaged operations and businesses, the port's president and chief executive told the maritime industry in his annual state of the port address. Gary LaGrange said the port is in a battle to retain the nine maritime businesses that operate along the Industrial Canal, a 1,000-acre tract of port property that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Together the businesses generated about 9,000 indirect jobs, LaGrange said. At least one of them probably will have to relocate soon, he said. The port does have several things to celebrate, he said.

24 Oct 2005

MarAd Temporarily Suspends Processing

On October 17, 2005, the Deputy Maritime Administrator issued letters to Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Governor Robert Riley of Alabama, informing them that due to the disruption caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) have temporarily suspended the processing of pending Gulf Coast region Deepwater Port license applications.