Louisiana’s Oil and Gas Industry’s History

 According to an August 2022 Louisiana Radio Network article, Louisiana saw an increase in the number of applications for oil and gas permits. In 2021, Louisiana's Commissioner of Conservation reported that it issued 563 permits, but in 2022, this number is expected to be over 800, which indicates an increase in oil and gas exploration and production. This news is important because this industry contributes the largest to the state's budget. Oil and gas production in Louisiana has a history beginning in the early 1900s. Today, Louisiana ranks third in natural gas refining in the country and produces one-fifth of the nation's crude oil, processing 3.2 million barrels a day, according to a May 2022 US Energy Information Administration report. While the southern region of the state produces most of the oil, all 64 parishes have produced natural gas or oil at one time or another. One of the nation's top producers, Louisiana is considered a launching point for oil and gas offshore exploration and production. Because of this, it plays an important role in American energy security. The state's geological structure has made it ripe for oil and gas production. The southern region is comprised of vast coastal plains and areas just offshore that contain salt domes buried beneath the surface. This is where large deposits of petroleum (oil) and gas (hydrocarbons) exist. After exploring and producing in this area, producers inched towards the state's low-lying marshes, bayous, lakes, and shallow bays along the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Here, they found deposits of natural gas. To access these rich energy sources, oil and gas producers have constructed a network of platforms, industrial parks, deep water ports, storage facilities, and navigational channels to meet this growing energy demand. Louisiana's flourishing oil and gas industry began in 1901 in Jennings, a small town in the southwestern part of the state and where the first well was successfully drilled. South Louisiana has experienced over 100 years of active exploration. From 2005 to 2013, Anglo-Dutch Energy LLC, one of my companies, made a number of significant discoveries around the Roanoke salt dome, about 5 miles away from the Jennings field.