Back to Work Coalition Efforts Paying Off with New Gulf Activity

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Scott Angelle congratulated Anadarko Petroleum on its recently announced natural gas discovery in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, the company’s first announced new discovery since the declared end of the federal moratorium on drilling.

Anadarko reported that it discovered a natural gas layer more than 50 feet thick at its Cheyenne East prospect southeast of Louisiana, surpassing the thickness of potential production that had been expected.

“I am gratified to see that energy exploration companies have continued to show their confidence in the productivity of the Gulf of Mexico and in the progress we have made in getting as many rigs and workers back on the job,” Angelle said.

Angelle noted that the federal drilling permit that allowed the Anadarko project to move forward was one of 57 well projects interrupted by the moratorium that would not require revised exploration or development plans to supplement federal environmental reviews. Those wells were identified in early 2011 during the Back to Work Coalition’s ongoing efforts to work with federal regulators to bring back the exploration activity that produces both energy and jobs.

“We knew that group of wells gave us an opportunity to get a head start on bringing back work and energy production in Gulf as we kept up our efforts to ensure that federal rules provided for regulation of the industry without strangulation,” Angelle said. “And today we see these efforts paying off.”