IADC study: Offshore workers don’t just live along Gulf Coast

Offshore rig workers live throughout the United States, not only along the Gulf Coast, a new study conducted by IADC showed. The study illustrates that job losses and dislocations caused by the ongoing deepwater drilling moratorium and the de facto shallow-water moratorium have a national economic impact.

The data on residences of 11,875 offshore employees showed that these workers call 68% of all US Congressional Districts home.

The study drew data from nine offshore drilling contractors and one boat company supporting the offshore industry. Residences of these workers are spread across 296 Congressional Districts. There are 435 Congressional Districts in the United States.

This study does not include the thousands of workers at oilfield service companies, equipment manufacturers or oil-producing companies.

“Each direct rig job is supported by four to five support personnel, whether working offshore or on the beach,” IADC president Dr Lee Hunt said. “Beyond that, as this study shows, communities across the United States depend on the wages of offshore workers.

“The economic trauma that this deepwater moratorium is causing spans the entire United States,” Dr Hunt warned. “Offshore workers call all of America home.”

For high-resolution PDF versions of the maps, click here.