Pressing on: Gov. Bobby Jindal’s campaign manager tells The News-Star that Jindal won’t give up on his presidential campaign before the Iowa Caucus on Feb. 1, where he believes a strong showing could propel Jindal to the upper tier of candidates for the Republican nomination, a status he hasn’t reached so far. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, once considered a front-runner before flaming out in the first two debates, ended his presidential bid this week. He was preceded by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was among the Republican favorites in 2012. Read the full story.
Nurturing nature: A panel has approved using $134 million provided by BP on 10 projects to help the Gulf of Mexico recover from the company’s catastrophic 2010 offshore oil spill, The Associated Press reports. A trustee council made up of state and federal officials overseeing ecological restoration from the oil spill today approved the distribution of the money. About $126 million will go to ecological projects for sea turtles, fish, vegetation and birds and $8 million on enhancing recreational uses. So far, with these new projects included, about $832 million of the $1 billion BP has pledged to spend on Gulf recovery projects has been awarded.
Fire sale: North America’s oil drillers haven’t sold off nearly as many assets as expected this year, but FuelFix.com reports that could change in coming months as executives begin to plan next year’s budgets. Independent oil producers are likely to cut capital expenditures by 23% or more in 2016, and bigger companies could reduce spending 8% on average, Wunderlich Securities announced today, extrapolating existing data from the few producers that have disclosed spending plans. Read the full story.
