Louisiana economist gives oil & gas industry outlook report: ‘Lafayette I think is going to do fine’

LAFAYETTE, La. ( KLFY ) — Louisiana economist Loren Scott discussed the local and national economy and gave his forecast for 2025 and 2026.

Scott spoke during an event called “An Expert’s Perspective with Dr. Loren Scott,” which was presented in Lafayette by First Horizon.

“This is a very unusual year in trying to forecast the future because we don’t know how the presidential election is going to come out and these are two very different parties when it comes to the oil and industries and fossil fuel,” Scott said.

Scott described his economic forecast as a “Midland Forecast.”

“It’s about the average of what will happen. It turns out it’s two extremes. One extreme is it’s going to be really bad and the other is extreme going is going to be really, really good,” Scott said.

Despite the uncertainty, Scott highlighted that Lafayette is fortunate to have diversified its economy away from oil and gas several decades ago.

“Acadian Ambulance is huge for you. Stuller Settings is very huge for you and CGI is very large for you. You diversified away and that’s helped your economy a whole lot. It’s made you less vulnerable to the fluctuations of oil and gas compared to say the Houma area,” Scott said.

Scott expressed optimism about Lafayette’s economic prospects, placing it in the middle of nine metropolitan areas, some less dependent on the presidential election and others more so.

“Lafayette I think is going to do fine,” Scott said.

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