• Wednesday, 16 May, 2012

Spill and moratorium hit Gulf economy

Uncertain outlook: Gulf economy in danger.

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By News Wires

 19 July 2010 20:01 GMT

The Macondo oil spill may cost the US Gulf Coast region 17,000 jobs and about $1.2 billion in lost economic growth by year-end even if the flow is stanched permanently next month, Moody’s Analytics said in a report.



Under a more pessimistic scenario in which the oil spill continues through December and President Barack Obama’s six- month moratorium on deep-water drilling is extended, economic losses may reach $7.4 billion, and more than 100,000 jobs would be lost, Moody’s said today in a report written by Marisa Di Natale, a director based in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Louisiana, with its heavy dependence on fishing, aquaculture and oil extraction, and Florida, which relies on tourism, are likely to be hardest hit by the spill, the report said. Outside the five-state Gulf region, which also includes Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, the spill’s impact is likely to be negligible, according to the report.

“We’re talking about a very localised impact,” Di Natale said in a conference call after the release of the report.

“We don’t think there’s going to be a major impact when we look at the national economy.”

The Moody’s forecast assumes the well will continue to leak until early August, when two relief wells stop the flow permanently, and that none of Florida’s Panhandle beaches will be closed as a result of the spill.

The report warns that the six-month moratorium on new deep-water oil-drilling alone may cause more job losses than the spill’s direct impact on Florida tourism.

The oil leak may potentially be stopped sooner than Moody’s baseline scenario.

BP halted the flow of oil from the well for the first time 16 July and was given permission earlier today to keep the well closed for another 24 hours.

A separate, industry-funded report released today also warned of the impact of the moratorium on new deep-water drilling, saying it is “crippling the local economy” and may cost the region 8169 jobs and about $2.1 billion in economic losses in its first six months.

The study, commissioned by the American Energy Alliance, the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research, a Washington-based research group, predicted that nationwide job losses will reach 12,000 in six months, costing the US economy about $2.8 billion in lost growth and $219 million in tax revenue.

“The moratorium could be more costly than the oil spill itself,” Joseph R. Mason, author of the study and professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, said in a release accompanying the report.

“By stifling one of the area’s primary economic engines, the administration is crippling the local economy and risking long-term consequences.”

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07.05.2012 -  20th Middle East Petroleum & Gas Conference (MPGC 2012)

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08.05.2012 -  20th Middle East Petroleum & Gas Conference (MPGC 2012)

MPGC 2012 will be held from 6-8 May and is returning to Bahrain again, on the occasion of its 20th Anniversary. The conference will be held under the Patronage of His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Energy-Chairman of National Oil & Gas Authority, Kingdom of Bahrain and with National Oil & Gas Authority (NOGA) & The Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) as hosts.
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