COVID-19 Resources

Louisiana's oil and natural gas industry is taking every precaution to protect our workers, their families and our community while safely delivering the energy America depends on.

The industry is taking careful steps to prepare for, respond to and mitigate the unique challenges of the COVID-19 global outbreak.

The industry is following recommendations from state and federal officials, as well as taking extra precautions to protect our workforce through social distancing, work from home policies, limited site visitors at facilities and limited access to key sites, conducting health screenings, and alternating shifts of rotating workgroups.

• Governor Edwards Stay At Home Order

COVID-19 Resources & Links

• La. Department of Health COVID-19 Information
• WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public:
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control (COVID-19)
• CDC Resources for Businesses and Employers
• CISA Guidance for Critical Infrastructure
• COVID-19 Mitigations for Offshore Energy Operations
• OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19:
• API Pandemic Resources & Information
• Port Fourchon COVID-19 Resources

LMOGA Letter to President Trump on Offshore Energy

Industry Preparedness & Response

• API Blog: ENERGY INDUSTRY PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE TO COVID-19
• COVID-19: AFPM on Industries' Preparedness
• NOIA: Keeping Offshore Energy Safe Through COVID-19
• API Pandemic Planning Guide

Industry Social Investment

Louisiana's oil and natural gas industry is stepping up to support Louisiana communities struggling with economic and health challenges during the COVID-19 outbreak. From donations to local organizations and non-profits to contributions of much-needed PPE for healthcare workers on the front line, LMOGA member companies from across the state are committed to supporting our communities during this crisis.

• The BP Foundation will donate $2 million USD to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which supports medical professionals and patients worldwide by providing critical aid and supplies. The Solidarity Response Fund also helps track and understand the spread of the COVID-19 virus and supports efforts to develop tests, treatments, and ultimately, a vaccine. BP is also supplying 3 million gallons of jet fuel to FedEx Express and Alaska Airlines at no cost to support the timely delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essential goods to areas of the U.S. at greatest risk for COVID-19. BP will offset the carbon emissions of all donated fuel deliveries through its Target Neutral program.
• BHP is establishing a $2 million fund to support communities in proximity to BHP’s operations in North America and Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at supporting health services and other community needs in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic response. As part of their commitment, BHP donated $500,000 in Terrebonne Parish to support the Terrebonne Economic Development Foundation said the Bayou Business Grant Program, which will offer grants of up to $10,000 to help businesses with needs that might not be met by state or federal aid program. The nonprofit Terrebonne Economic Development Foundation has partnered with the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce and the South Central Industrial Association to market and administer the grant program. BHP also donated $100,000 to the Bayou Community Foundation to support mental health services in the community and 15,000 3M N-95 masks to Terrebonne General Hospital.
• Cheniere Energy, Inc. has pledged more than $1 million to organizations that provide essential services to those most in need and at risk during the COVID-19 outbreak in locations where the company has facilities or offices. Cheniere is contributing $90,000 of its commitment in Southwest Louisiana to the SWLA Community Foundation, the West Cal Community Health Foundation, and the Cameron Parish Council on Aging. The company has also donated two pallets of medical PPE to Christus Southwest Hospital. Cheniere has also supported local restaurants by sponsoring meal deliveries to first responders and frontline workers in southwest Louisiana.
• In an effort to assist communities across Southeast Louisiana amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit has committed $350,000, in total, to Bayou Community Foundation, Northshore Community Foundation, Northshore Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank to supply resources to local families and individuals in need.
• ConocoPhillips is taking steps to support and sustain its global workforce, communities and health care professionals during the coronavirus pandemic. Our business units and corporate groups are donating much-needed relief aid, food and medical supplies to area hospitals and first responders to help in the fight against the coronavirus. Donations include 6,500 respirator masks and 6,000 pairs of medical exam gloves to protect health care workers and thousands of pounds of food to support local food banks.
• ExxonMobil is helping to meet demand for products like medical hand sanitizers, alcohol wipes and disinfectant sprays by manufacturing a key ingredient, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and providing it to the customers and areas that need it most. In Louisiana, ExxonMobil is partnering with GOHSEP to coordinate this effort. The IPA will be delivered by Brenntag Southwest to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center where Prison Enterprises will blend and package the product to make thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer for distribution. As part of a commitment to help flatten the curve during this trying time, ExxonMobil has also made hand sanitizer donations to the local school system and the Baton Rouge Health District.
  • The company is also responding to a second request from the Governor’s Office for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) for isopropyl alcohol (IPA) for the Louisiana Hunt Correctional Institute to produce an additional 30,000 eight-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer. This additional IPA supply from the Baton Rouge Chemical Plant will result in a total of nearly 100,000 eight-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer produced for the Louisiana COVID-19 response efforts thus far.
• ExxonMobil is partnering with the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a non-profit member of the University System of Georgia to expedite the development of PPE that can be sterilized and worn multiple times. The new industrial-style mask is being fast-tracked for production. Once approved by the FDA, production will begin immediately, with ExxonMobil supporting the identification of manufacturers familiar with the materials and process to quickly deliver the masks to doctors, nurses and healthcare providers. Manufacturers indicate they will be able to produce as many as 40,000 ready-to-use masks and filter cartridges per hour. The ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Chemical Plant is proudly supplying the polypropylene for this project.
• ExxonMobil Baton Rouge and the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company are together donating a total of $40,000 in the first wave of contributions to the Fueling the Fight initiative to provide meals to frontline healthcare workers at Baton Rouge’s area hospitals. ExxonMobil is also reimbursing the cost of fuel to Baton Rouge emergency response vehicles and providing gas gift cards to healthcare workers at Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge General and Ochsner Health. In April, approximately 30,000 gallons of fuel will be provided for city police cars, ambulances and other municipal fleet vehicles. These vehicles will be able to fuel up at two East Baton Rouge Parish Fuel Depots, serviced by Mansfield Energy Corporation. The ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery will provide the gasoline directly from its terminal.
• Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by donating personal protective equipment to healthcare providers and contributing $1 million to the American Red Cross through Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc. Starting the week of March 23, Marathon Petroleum deployed its entire stock of personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals, healthcare organizations and its own facilities across the country. Over 575,000 pieces of PPE, including N95 respirator masks and gloves have either been delivered to 45 hospitals and healthcare organizations in 20 states.
• Phillips 66 is donating $3 million in its communities in the U.S. and U.K. to support the responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 relief efforts. In addition, Phillips 66 Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex, along with other industrial companies, donated needed, critical, medical supplies for healthcare providers to remain healthy as they fight the coronavirus on the front lines. PPE including nearly 10,000 pairs of surgical gloves, almost 100 respirators, over 400 protective suits, 90 P100 filters, 100 white Tyvek coveralls, as well as 6,000 N95 masks are among the quantities and types of supplies donated.
• Phillips 66 is contributing $185,000 to COVID-19 relief efforts across Southwest Louisiana. The donation will provide essential support for first responders, food banks, healthcare and other critical organizations serving vulnerable populations. Below are specific donations covered in the $185,000 overall contribution:
  • $45,000 – United Way of Southwest Louisiana’s COVID-19 Hunger Fund
  • $35,000 – Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana’s Emergency Relief Fund supporting the City of Westlake’s food pantries and general relief efforts in the Imperial Calcasieu region
  • $25,000 – Calcasieu Council on Aging’s emergency response efforts
  • $25,000 – Care Help of Sulphur’s emergency relief efforts
  • $25,000 – Calcasieu Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to support COVID-19 PPE for medical responders such as area hospitals and nursing homes
  • $20,000 – Second Harvest Food Banks in Southwest Louisiana
  • $10,000 – Family & Youth Counseling Agency’s Shannon Cox Counseling division to support children and families battling severe trauma and grief
    
• Sasol has pledged $100,000 to coronavirus relief efforts in communities where it operates in the United States, with an emphasis on supporting front-line emergency responders, health care professionals, educators and food service providers. Seventy thousand dollars are earmarked for Southwest Louisiana, where Sasol employs more than 1,200 people.
• Sempra Energy Foundation will donate up to $250,000 to help small to medium-sized nonprofits in Louisiana as they continue to serve critical needs related to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. The grants for Louisiana nonprofits will be part of a larger $1.75 million Nonprofit Hardship Fund from the Sempra Energy Foundation that will be made available to charities in the areas of the United States where Sempra Energy and its family of companies operate.
• Shell’sdownstream businesses in Louisiana have contributed $233,500 in community investments where they operate, in addition to providing meals to frontline workers and donating much needed PPE. As part of Shell’s local investment, Shell Norco provided $60,000 to support the United Way of St. Charles COVID-19 Community Relief Fund to assist residents with emergency financial assistance. Shell also provided a $66,000 donation to the United Way of St. Charles to fund meal distributions to children on free and reduced lunch programs in the St. Charles Parish Public school system, and to the public that has been affected in the St. Charles Parish community near our Norco Site. Shell Geismar and Convent provided $50,000 to support The Capital Area COVID-19 Community Relief Fund set up to aid the residents and organizations of a 10-parish region in LA. Shell Norco donated $7500 to purchase supplies for St. Charles Parish Public School System students to craft 5000 face shields and ear savers for healthcare workers using 3-D printers. Shell is also providing $50,000 donation to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank to provide mobile food distribution in St. James and Ascension Parishes in Louisiana near our Geismar and Convent sites.
• TC Energy is using their energy for good to help provide critical support to the people, places and organizations impacted by COVID-19. To date, they have contributed over $2.6 million across North America. But we’re just getting started. From May 5 - 19, their #BetterTogether campaign is matching donations from the public at 200% up to a goal of $500,000 to further support COVID-19 relief efforts across North America. In Louisiana, TC Energy has made $22,500 of donations in community investment supporting Arc of Acadiana in New Iberia with $7,500, the Food Bank of Central Louisiana in Alexandria with $10,000 and the St. Bernard St Francis Food Pantry in Breaux Bridge with $5,000.
• Valero Energy Corporation and the Valero Energy Foundation are committing $300,000 to support local organizations in the greater New Orleans area on the front lines of COVID-19 pandemic response. The support is part of an overall $1.8 million commitment to help people who need it most, primarily in cities where the company operates. In addition, Valero also is providing gas cards to selected charitable organizations to provide access to essential fuels and products for their operations. Valero has also purchased hundreds of meals from local restaurants and had them delivered to healthcare workers. This was their way of supporting local businesses while showing appreciation to those on the frontline.

In addition, our own LMOGA Foundation has partnered with Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF), Entergy, ExxonMobil, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana for the Fueling the Fight Initiative to help provide meals for our frontline healthcare workers at Baton Rouge’s area hospitals. The initiative is also supporting our local restaurants with business serving the meals.

About COVID-19 – Prevention

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. However, as a reminder, CDC always recommends everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases, including:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask.
  • CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.
  • Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
  • If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty. For information about handwashing, see CDC’s Handwashing website

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html