Port of Long Beach losing money on oil operations

“Despite high oil prices, strong demand and surging production levels, the Port of Long Beach’s oil budget may end the fiscal year nearly $5 million in the red. Drilling costs, coupled with the enormous expense of cleaning up an old Pier A oil waste disposal site, will result in a net loss for the year if prices for local crude continue hovering around $50 per barrel. Last year, when local crude sold as high as $67 per barrel, the harbor’s oil operations produced profits of more than $15 million. This year, losses are attributed primarily to one-time costs – exceeding $20 million – which include the cleanup of a former oil disposal site known as the ‘bug farm’. The 10-acre farm, shut down more than a year ago, was a series of dark mud-like pits on Pier A where billions of tiny microbes devoured oil production by-products. “