Offshore oil unloading facility is announced

[Ray]

A Sulphur firm with plans to develop an offshore oil unloading facility off the Cameron coast met with Southwest Louisiana legislators Tuesday, June 15, to brief them on the project. ReConManagement/Engineering has offices in Sulphur and Beaumont, Tex. It was established in 1995 and serves refining and chemicals industries, power plants, pipelines and terminals, and pulp and paper projects. Roger Boyette, ReCon president
and general manager, said company officials have tried to meet with all parties that might be affected by the facility. Port and river pilot officials have voiced some concerns about how they might be affected, and some of them haven’t been contacted yet, he said. A brochure handed out by
company officials details plans for the facility - to be called the Pelican Energy Port. It would be built especially for the unloading of oil from deepdraft transport vessels.
From the brochure:
• Construction would create more than 500 jobs, and 100 permanent jobs would come with the facility. The net permanent jobs created, counting support and service jobs at companies being served, would total 2,700.
• Permitting, right-of-way, legal, engineering and procurement work would take 18 months. Construction would take 24 months.
• The project would include two single-point mooring systems 43 miles off the coast in 72 feet of water. The oil would be transported through a 48-
inch pipeline 43 miles offshore and 18 miles through the marsh to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve brine line into Hackberry. Storage would
be in Carlyss, Cameron and Hackberry.
The brochure talks about the benefits to refiners that have to reduce costs to compete. The facility would help stabilize refineries, it said.
“Historically, dredging efforts on the (ship) channel have not been consistent when needed,” the brochure reads.
“As a result, the channel silts in and the refiners have to bring cargoes in at shallower drafts.”
With the offshore facility, shippers would be able to bring in larger cargoes, and transit distance, time and risks would be reduced, according to the brochure. Safety is also a benefit, and the project is environmentally responsible, it says.
Company officials have said the offshore port would increase traffic and tonnage at the Port of Lake Charles and would promote growth in
Cameron Parish.