Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority

About LOTA (Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority):

LOTA was created by state statute in 1972 to be the state regulatory agency for all deep water petrochemical ports operating within Louisiana’s offshore jurisdiction. Deepwater ports are able to handle far larger vessels than the limited water depth of coastal ports. Under the provisions of the federal Deepwater Port Act of 1974 [33 U.S.C 1501], LOTA’s jurisdiction may extend far beyond the state’s traditional territorial waters.

LOTA is charged with the responsibility “…to promote, plan, finance, develop, construct, control, license, regulate, supervise, operate, manage, maintain, and modify offshore terminal facilities within its jurisdiction.” At the present time LOTA regulates the operations of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the first and so far only operational deepwater crude oil export and import terminal in North America, although several other deepwater crude oil and natural gas projects are in various stages of review. LOTA operates at no expense to the Louisiana taxpayer, as the office is user-funded by state licensees.

About LOOP, LLC (Louisiana Offshore Oil Port):

LOOP is America's first deepwater oil port, located in the open waters of the Gulf of America approximately eighteen miles offshore of Grand Isle, LA. LOOP provides crude oil importing and exporting services, with the ability to service some of the largest tankers in the world (700,000 deadweight tons), which are too massive to traverse the Mississippi River or efficiently utilize other coastal ports. LOOP also operates the largest privately owned crude oil storage facility in the country with capacities in excess of eighty million barrels located in nearby Galliano, LA.

LOOP utilizes a Single Point Mooring (SPM) buoy system to safely and efficiently transfer crude oil to and from tankers to its bi-directional 48-inch Main Oil Line (MOL) pipeline. LOOP’s three SPM buoys sit in approximately 115 feet of water allowing for sufficient under keel clearance for large tankers. Mooring lines are used to connect the bow of a tanker to the SPM buoy, and flexible hoses are then used to transport crude oil to/from the tanker to a submarine pipeline. Each SPM buoy and its hose assembly can rotate a full 360 degrees, allowing the tanker to maintain the heading of least resistance to wind and waves.

Crude oil moves to/from LOOP’s Marine Terminal, which consists of a control and pumping platforms. The control platform is equipped with a helicopter pad, living quarters, galley, vessel traffic control station, offices and a medical room. The pumping platform contains four 7,000-hp pumps, power generators, metering and laboratory facilities. Crude oil is only handled on the pumping platform where it is measured, sampled and boosted to/from shore via the MOL pipeline.

LOOP also operates several other major onshore facilities:  The Fourchon Booster Station, the Clovelly Dome Storage Terminal and the Clovelly Tank Facility. The Fourchon Booster Station, located at the junction of LA 1 and LA 3090, has four 6,000-hp pumps, which have the ability to increase the pressure and crude oil flow rate enroute to the Clovelly Dome Storage Terminal. The Clovelly Dome Storage Terminal is used to store crude oil in underground salt caverns and the Clovelly Tank Facility, which provides storage in above ground breakout tanks. LOOP is headquartered in Covington, LA, approximately thirty miles north of New Orleans.