Report: Oil, gas drilling in La. valued at $16B in 2011

Energy development in Louisiana supported 107,400 jobs and generated $16 billion in economic activity last year. That places it among the top states benefiting from oil and gas drilling activity on federal lands and waters—which collectively supported about 1.5 million jobs and $275 billion in economic activity last year, The Houston Chronicle reports, citing a new Interior Department report. The analysis calculates the economic benefits of Interior Department activities, ranging from the national parks it manages to oil extraction on the public lands it oversees. Not surprisingly, energy development produces big dividends, according to the report. That’s especially true onshore in western states such as Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, where oil and gas producers are extracting the fossil fuels from Bureau of Land Management leases. Offshore energy development, including new offshore wind activities as well as long-established oil and gas work, supported 734,500 jobs and $121 billion in economic output, mostly in Gulf Coast states, according to the report. Get more details and access the complete 225-page report here.