What About the Gulf’s Oil Workers?

Before the rigs and pipelines can get back into operation, energy outfits have figure out how to get their employees safely back in place

From Platts Oilgram News

As oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico begin the arduous job of restoring operations to their facilities in Hurricane Katrina’s wake, they face a hurdle that has nothing to do with busted pipes or drifting platforms: a devastated workforce.
Employees who work on Gulf producing rigs “have suffered significantly” from Katrina, which wiped out tens of thousands of homes, killed hundreds of people, and left much of the Gulf Coast under water, says David Dismukes, an economist at Louisiana State University. Dismukes, who works at the school’s Center for Energy Studies, estimated that 65% of the Gulf’s 55,000 offshore workers live in Katrina’s path.

HOTLINES FOR WORKERS. Dismukes says one of those employees spoke with him early Aug. 31 from a motel outside Dallas, where he’d taken his wife and children to escape the storm. Now that worker’s company is calling him back to his offshore Louisiana post — but without any accommodations for him and his displaced family.

At least two large Gulf concerns have established hotlines for displaced employees to call. Chevron (CVX), which says it has 3,000 people in the area affected by Katrina, is asking them to let the company know how and where they are — and if and when they plan to return.

Business Week