Louisiana's sinking coast a US$100 billion nightmare for Big Oil

Washington

FROM 5,000 feet (1.5 km) up, it's difficult to make out where Louisiana's coastline used to be. But follow the skeletal remains of decades-old oil canals, and you get an idea. Once, these lanes sliced through thick marshland, clearing a path for pipelines or ships. Now they're surrounded by open water, green borders still visible as the sea swallows up the shore.

The canals tell a story about the industry's ubiquity in Louisiana history, but they also signal a grave future: US$100 billion of energy infrastructure threatened by rising sea levels and erosion. As the coastline recedes, tangles of pipeline are exposed to corrosive seawater; refineries, tank farms and ports are at risk. "All of the pipelines, all of the things put in place in the 50s and 60s and 70s were designed to be protected by marsh," said Ted Falgout, an energy consultant and former director of Port Fourchon.