The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association warns the sector is on pace to be hit harder than previously thought, and oil futures are likely to again trade in the negatives.
President Gifford Briggs says estimates show the world is producing 30 million barrels of oil a day more than it can consume. He says more than half of state wells are set to shut down as a result.
“We’ve got 33,000 plus wells producing in Louisiana, if we take 60% of those wells out of production then we are going to be shutting in 16,800,” says Briggs.
He says the recent international deal with OPEC and Russia to cut production by 10 million barrels a day just wasn’t enough.
Briggs says roughly 33,000 people earning wages over three billion dollars directly work in the industry. He says surveys indicate 70 percent of those jobs will now be lost.
“If you look at that 70% number that is putting 23,000 people at risk of losing their job and over two billion in wages that will be pulled out of Louisiana’s economy,” says Briggs.
Briggs says the industry needs tax relief, lawsuit reform, and other state and federal help to survive the historically tough period, but most of all they need the economy to come back.
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