MarineNews Yearbook Offshore
back for reasons that at the time were unforeseen," Bennett said. The Gulf is widely considered a spot market, along with the North Sea, which Bennett said is struggling mightily, as well. "When things go bad [in a spot market] they get bad quickly," Bennett said. "And when they get good, they get good very quickly. It's the challenge of operating there." Boat operators hope a turnaround comes soon, as they struggle just two years after record activity levels. "When things are good, you always keep money for a cushion," Cheramie said. "Once you run through that cushion � that's when you start sending people to the house." Analysts and industry leaders alike are apprehensive about the coming year and the future, especially without clear signals from the White House concerning energy policies. "Our industry certainly set the bar low enough in 2009 that 2010 better be better," said Ken Wells, president of New Orleans-based Offshore Marine Service Association. Bennett said the industry has failed to hear encouraging news from Capitol Hill and talk of raising taxes, doing away with existing energy incentives and cap and trade don't help. "We continue to work in the U.S. and pay higher taxes than virtually anywhere else in the world," Bennett said.
2009
Tidewater's Damon B Bankston
Tidewater's Pat Tillman, currently working in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Cheramie echoed Bennett's concerns. "Everyone is hanging out waiting to see what [President Obama] is going to do next," he said. "He's unpredictable. There's talk of raising taxes on the oil companies � they don't have to drill in the Gulf � they have a whole world to drill in." If higher taxes are imposed on the industry, Cheramie fears current conditions would worsen. "Until [Pres. Obama] makes a positive move for the oil companies, it'll be more of the same," Cheramie said. Falgout said uncertainty about federal policy stymies investment. "Who wants to invest billions of dollars when every sign out of the Administration is discouraging," Falgout said. Shiels pointed to years of neglect when it comes to a national energy policy. "All things equal, there really hasn't been an Administration that understands all of the challenges of the energy industry," he said. "For years we've lacked a comprehensive energy policy." Shiels called the focus on alternative energy the "right direction for the world," but said the technology for such energy is far away. "For the foreseeable future � its hydrocarbons," he said, citing a balanced approach, instead of contradictions of energy independence, while solely pushing alternative
October 2009
42 MN