Ida-hit oil industry port sustains less damage than feared

By MELINDA DESLATTE and DAVID KOENIG
Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A critical port that serves as the primary support hub for the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater offshore oil and gas industry sustained less damage from Hurricane Ida’s direct hit than initially feared and should be able to return to working operations “in the near future.” That assessment of Port Fourchon is according to Chett Chiasson. He’s the executive director for the commission that operates Port Fourchon. Chiasson said at a Lafourche Parish briefing that many of the structures are still good and should be able to get up and running “fairly quickly.” Getting the port operational is integral to the nation’s fuel supply.