Competitors draining Gulf of deepwater rigs

After hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts in 2005, oil and gas drilling production was greatly disrupted despite just 113 of the more than 4,000 platforms being destroyed in the Gulf of Mexico.

But the harshest long-term threat to oil and gas production in Gulf waters now is the dwindling drilling equipment supply.

Many jack-up and deepwater rigs, the massive mobile platforms and ships that drill for oil and gas in deepwater, are leaving the Gulf of Mexico for more lucrative jobs elsewhere, said David Dismukes, associate director of Louisiana State University Center for Entergy Studies.