Joseph Mason, a professor of finance and the Hermann Moyse, Jr./Louisiana Bankers Association Endowed Chair of Banking in LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, had a study he recently conducted mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article “U.S. Saw Drill Ban Killing Many Jobs.”

The article describes the effects of a federal ban on deepwater oil drilling that would mean about 23,000 job cuts. The federal moratorium is meant to regulate the oil industry’s safety equipment and the government’s inspection process of this equipment.

According to the article, Mason’s research “concluded a six-month shutdown of the 33 deepwater rigs would result in a net loss of 12,000 jobs.” Mason’s study, commissioned by the American Energy Alliance, is titled “The Economic Cost of a Moratorium on the Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration to the Gulf Region.”

The article, which was published August 21, 2010, can be read here.