While a private fund that was developed to assist rig workers impacted by the ongoing federal moratorium on deepwater drilling is experiencing a smaller volume of interest than originally expected, a third-party administrator has been selected to weed through applications and award grants. First Premium Insurance Group of Covington will receive about $6.5 million to perform the task, according to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which created the Gulf Restoration and Protection Foundation to oversee the process. BP, which managed the Deepwater Horizon rig, has put up $100 million to sponsor the grant program. President Barack Obama originally asked BP to create the program, and the oil giant selected BRAF, a clearinghouse for philanthropists, to get the ball rolling.
About $93.5 million of the $100 million fund is expected to go directly to rig workers and later, in a second round, other support personnel—if there are enough out there. So far, 220 rig workers have applied for financial assistance through BP’s fund, despite forecasts that 9,000 applications would be filed by the end of the month. While there’s certainly a disparity with the initial estimate of thousands of applications, Mukul Verma, BRAF spokesman, says a positive interpretation is available. “The news has been good,” Verma says. “People continue to work or remain employed on the deepwater rigs.” Read the full story here. —Jeremy Alford
