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WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu took Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on a tour of oil and gas infrastructure in her home state of Louisiana, with visits on Tuesday to a port supplying offshore platforms and another facility that builds them.

The sightseeing trip was the latest bid by Landrieu to highlight her support for the oil and gas industry in Louisiana as she fights for reelection in one of this year’s closest Senate contests.

Her “Coast on Call: Energy for Today and Tomorrow” tour began with a public hearing, one of more than a dozen nationwide as the Energy Department considers ways to improve pipelines, power lines and other infrastructure.

Afterward, Landrieu and Moniz headed to Port Fourchon, which services and supplies almost all of the oil and gas activity in deep Gulf of Mexico waters. Port officials briefed Landrieu and Moniz on activity before the pair traveled to another coastal energy hub.

Later, at the Omega Natchiq fabrication yard in New Iberia, La., Landrieu and Moniz saw work under way to build the top portions of offshore oil and gas platforms.

Landrieu, the head of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has been touting her connection to the oil and gas industry as she courts voters in a state deeply tied to it.

According to the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, some 430,000 jobs nationwide are linked to Gulf energy activity. According to Landrieu’s staff, more than 300,000 people are employed by oil and gas interests in Louisiana.

On the campaign trail, Landrieu has highlighted her energy chairmanship as an opportunity to influence - and even direct - oil and gas policy in the nation’s capital.

And she has talked up her efforts to expand a revenue sharing program that gives coastal states a share of the royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling near their shores.

She also has taken a lead role in pushing legislation that would approve the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport Canadian crude to Cushing, Okla., en route to Gulf Coast refineries.

But Landrieu’s leading Republican opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy, has questioned her clout, especially after a potential Senate deal to bring up the Keystone XL bill fell apart earlier this month.

‘‘Landrieu’s PR machine screams about how vital her role will be for Louisiana’s energy economy, but so far, it’s only been vital for promoting herself,” said Cassidy spokesman John Cummins. “Louisianans know talk is cheap and want problem solvers.”

Keystone XL is a particularly thorny issue for Landrieu, underscoring how difficult it may be for any lawmaker - even one in the majority party - to mark a significant legislative success on Capitol Hill right now. Other Democrats facing voters in red states, most notably Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska, have asked President Barack Obama to approve Keystone XL. But the State Department in April indefinitely postponed a decision on whether the pipeline is in the national interest.

Landrieu’s energy chairmanship also comes with political baggage - even if the senator generally sees it as an asset on the campaign trail.

For instance, earlier this year, Landrieu voted to support Obama’s nominee to be assistant Interior secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, despite opposition from Louisiana Republicans and the oil industry. The close 12-10 vote came just weeks after Landrieu had taken the committee gavel, so she presided over the meeting.

Landrieu’s campaign strategy has been tried before. Most recently, the tactic was tried by Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., who highlighted her role atop the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee during her 2010 campaign for reelection.

But Lincoln’s bid didn’t work; she lost by a double-digit margin in November 2010.

Now, Landrieu is hoping to avoid Lincoln’s fate.

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First Published: May 28, 2014, 1:34 a.m.