Shreveport contractors work under Louisiana law. What has to be different about the insurance?

Louisiana's oil and gas regulator is now the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (formerly the Department of Energy and Natural Resources). Its Office of Enforcement keeps three district offices: Lafayette for the south, and Shreveport and Monroe splitting the north.

The Shreveport District Office is at 1525 Fairfield Avenue, Suite 656. The department says its district offices house supervisors and engineers who oversee drilling and related operations, and serve as headquarters for field agents who conduct site visits and inspections.

The department's October 2026 district map puts these parishes in the Shreveport district: Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Lincoln, Bienville, Jackson, DeSoto, Red River, Winn, Natchitoches, Sabine and Vernon.

In the Haynesville, DeSoto Parish leads the region. The Dallas Fed reports it accounted for 23 percent of Haynesville output in the fourth quarter of 2024, and it names DeSoto, Caddo, Red River and Bossier among the parishes where boom-era production gains were concentrated.

Louisiana's Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act, R.S. 9:2780, was amended by Act No. 328 of the 2026 Regular Session (HB 941). A Louisiana law firm reports the changes took effect August 1, 2026. The Haynesville guide explains the statute. Here is how it plays out for a Shreveport contractor's office.

Still void: defense or indemnity for death or bodily injury caused by the operator's (indemnitee's) sole or concurrent negligence or fault, and any waiver of subrogation or AI requirement that would get around that.

The only path to AI coverage (Subsection H):

1. The operator sends a separate written request for an AI premium quote to you or your agent.
2. It receives a quote from your insurer or its authorized representative.
3. It pays your insurer directly, for itself or for itself and its group.

Renewal notices are on you. Once AI coverage is bought, you, your insurer or its representative must notify the AI in writing at least 30 days before the next annual premium is due or within 7 days of binding your renewal, whichever is less. If the AI skips a year, it has to start over with a new written request.

Deductibles. The AI is responsible for deductibles or retentions up to $100,000. An agreement making you fund any of that first $100,000 is null, and Subsection H then does not apply.

MSAs are squarely covered. Subsection J says the statute reaches master or general service agreements and blanket contracts "in whatever form and by whatever name."

Your attorney reviews the MSA. Our job is to make sure your agent and insurer can actually issue the quote, take the payment and send the notices.

R.S. 23:1168 opens: "An employer shall secure compensation to his employees." It lists the ways to do it: insurance from an insurer authorized in Louisiana, a group self-insurance fund, an interlocal risk management agency, or approved self-insurance.

For a Shreveport contractor that also works East Texas:

• Louisiana on the policy. Your WC information page needs Louisiana listed.
• Texas crews coming over. If you bring Texas employees across the line, they need Louisiana coverage when they work in Louisiana.
• Texas nonsubscribers. Texas lets private employers opt out (Labor Code 406.002). That option does not follow you into Louisiana.

See do oilfield contractors need workers' comp in Texas and what is employers liability coverage.

Haynesville trucks are hard on Louisiana roads. A 2020 study for the Louisiana Transportation Research Center, using DOTD permit data for the Haynesville area, counted 9.7 million shale-gas-related overweight vehicle miles from 2006 to 2016 and estimated about $17 million in road damage.

In 2026 the legislature passed Act 566 (HB 746), amending R.S. 32:387. The résumé digest says it prohibits special permits other than those required by DOTD, sets a one-year moratorium on local oversize permits, took effect May 29, 2026, and does not apply to the parishes of Bossier and Caddo.

What that means for a Shreveport contractor:

• Check parish permit requirements before moving an oversize load in Caddo or Bossier. The state-only rule in Act 566 does not reach them.
• Road damage is a liability claim. If a truck damages a parish road, a landowner's culvert or a bridge, it is usually an auto liability claim. Damage you contractually agreed to repair may not all be insurable.
• Permits and the policy should match. The units on your permits should be scheduled on your auto policy.

See oilfield auto insurance and MCS-90.

FEMA records show Caddo Parish designated for individual and public assistance in the Hurricane Laura major disaster (DR-4559, August 2020) and the February 2021 severe winter storm disaster (DR-4590). It was also designated for public assistance after Hurricane Delta (2020) and Hurricane Ida (2021), and appears in the January 2026 severe winter storm emergency declaration.

Shreveport is far from the coast, but storms still reach it. Check wind and flood on your equipment floater and yard, comprehensive on parked trucks, and freeze coverage on pumps and tanks.

See oilfield equipment insurance.

Send the insurance and indemnity sections of each MSA. Add your WC information page, current certificates, any written AI quote requests you have received from operators, and any ISNetworld or Avetta rejection notice.

If you also work Texas wells, tell us which ones. We review Louisiana MSAs against R.S. 9:2780 as amended and Texas MSAs against Chapter 127. Your attorney reviews the contract language. A licensed insurance specialist will walk you through the results.