Key oil port concerned about security

Los Angeles, Miami, the New York region — those are areas that probably come to mind when you think about port security. But in Louisiana, the focus is on Port Fourchon (pronounced Foo-shon).

The port is a beehive of activity, with hundreds of boats constantly on the move, carrying supplies or crew members to offshore oil rigs. There are miles of pipes waiting to be put on ships and brought out to sea for use on oil rigs and on the ocean floor.

But what you don’t see is what makes the port commission here worried about the possibility of a terrorist attack.

Each day, more than 1.5 million barrels of crude oil are pumped from offshore to Port Fourchon through underground pipelines. The site handles nearly 20 percent of all the crude oil the United States uses each day.

A well-planned terrorist attack would sever this critical energy artery, causing significant damage to the U.S. economy.

CNN