LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)- During the 2020 hurricane season oil and gas companies have used several contingency plans to prevent costly business interruptions.

Michael Moncla of Louisiana Oil and Gas Association says these plans include closures of wells to avoid flooding, suspension of all drilling operations and evacuation of non-essential employees.

 “They’re evacuating men off of platforms that are offshore. They are tying down barge rigs and moving them into safer areas,” Moncla said.
Once a storm has passed, operators evaluate for any visible damage. For example, Hurricane Laura halted a lot of services in certain areas. Moncla says companies have pushed back, postponed or canceled operations until the area is restored.

“It could be a company that wanted to drill a well there and the road access is no longer accessible or the parish doesn’t want any work going on so they shut it down,” he said.

Moncla says it’s been tough the past six years for Louisiana oilfield companies.

“We have 27 rigs and we only have 10 of them working,” he explained. “If we had enough work out there for 27 rigs, we would probably have 300 employees. At this point, with only 10 rigs working we’ve got about 150 employees.”