Feeling the squeeze: Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in Louisiana fell by seven this week to 102. Among them, 32 are located in north Louisiana and 48 are offshore; the rest are situated either on land or in waters in south Louisiana. In its weekly report, released today, Baker Hughes says the U.S. count fell by 43 this week to 1,267 amid depressed oil prices. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, North Dakota’s count fell by 11, Oklahoma lost nine, Texas six, New Mexico four, Colorado three and Wyoming two. West Virginia, Ohio and Kansas dropped one each. Alaska increased by five. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
Help wanted: Initial unemployment insurance claims in Louisiana for the week ending Feb. 21 decreased to 2,144 from the previous week’s total of 2,522 and were above the 1,964 figure from the comparable week ending Feb. 22, 2014. A shorter work-week due to the Mardi Gras holidays contributed to the over-the-week decrease in initial claims, the Louisiana Workforce Commission says in its weekly report released today. The construction sector had the biggest over-the-week drop in initial claims, followed by administrative and waste services. The four-week moving average of initial claims decreased to 2,570 from the previous week’s average of 2,667. LWC has more details.
Decision time: A New Orleans flood protection board meets Monday for a vote on whether to appeal the dismissal of a coastal erosion lawsuit against oil, gas and pipeline companies, The Associated Press reports. The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East filed suit in 2013, seeking damages over the loss of coastal wetlands—blamed in part on oil and gas activity—that help protect New Orleans from hurricanes. U.S. District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown recently ruled that the board had no legal standing to bring the suit and that the energy companies had no legal duty to protect the board from the effects of coastal erosion. Stopping the lawsuit would trigger a clause forcing the board to pay the costs its attorneys have incurred so far—estimated at around $2 million.
