Business interests on the Gulf Coast are hopeful the start of federal offshore wind leasing activities there can further strengthen the region’s footprint as a critical energy producer.
The Biden administration just proposed the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. It was welcome news for the offshore energy lobby and local service sector, which hope to cash in on the administration’s push to develop more wind energy projects in the Outer Continental Shelf.
“Through offshore wind, along with regular and predictable offshore oil and gas leasing, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico can expand its remarkable and irreplaceable energy portfolio,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association. “The energy, jobs, and investment opportunities from Gulf of Mexico offshore wind will be additive to the incredible benefits the offshore oil and gas sector provides our nation.”
INTERIOR ADVANCES MASSACHUSETTS OFFSHORE WIND PROJECT THAT COULD POWER 800,000 HOMES
The Gulf has long been a contributor to U.S. oil and gas production. Output has varied in recent years, but Gulf operators produced an average of 1.8 million barrels of oil per day in November, the latest month for which data are available. That’s equivalent to roughly 15% of total current U.S. production, which is averaging about 12.3 million barrels per day.
Chett Chiasson, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission in Louisiana, said the region is prepared to expand into wind.
Chiasson and GLPC manage Port Fourchon, which announced an agreement in early February with marine service company Crowley potentially to lease and develop an offshore wind terminal at the port.
“Hopefully, before the end of the year, [the agreement] will turn into a full-fledged lease for the first purpose-built offshore wind service facility in the Gulf of Mexico,” Chiasson told the Washington Examiner.
President Joe Biden set a goal of enabling the construction of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. The Gulf sale would be the fourth offshore wind lease sale to be held during his tenure.
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The vast majority of acreage leased for wind development to date is located in the Atlantic Ocean, where two commercial-scale wind projects are expected to begin generating electricity this year.
