Plus two: Louisiana has gained two active oil and gas rigs since last week to bring the state’s total to 51, according to Baker Hughes, a Houston-based oilfield services company. One of the rigs is located offshore while another is located on water inland. The state had roughly 75 active oil and gas rigs around the same time period last year. Meanwhile, FuelFix.com reports the number of U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 15 since last week. Overall, U.S. rigs fell by a dozen to 464, a new record low for the nation’s rig count since Baker Hughes started keeping track of drilling activity decades ago. The rig count is making waves again in the oil market as traders refocus on leading indicators of U.S. oil production. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the nation’s crude output to fall by more than 700,000 barrels a day this year, which analysts say should be enough to bring global oil supply and demand back into balance either later this year or early next year. Read the full story.
All aboard: Fifth District U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham wants Louisiana to be first in line as a trading partner for Cuba when normalization between the forbidden island and the United States is complete, The News-Star reports. Abraham, R-Alto, is traveling to Cuba on an agricultural trade mission April 6 with U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, Arkansas, and producers from both states. His trip will come on the heels of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the island, where Cubans crave Louisiana rice but have been denied the staple from here for decades because of the embargo. “Basically, this is a huge market in our own backyard,” says northeastern Louisiana’s Meryl Kennedy Farr, whose family is one of the largest rice producers in the state and among those traveling with Abraham. “Trade normalization with Cuba has been one of the top goals for the rice industry for many years.” Read the full story.
Silver lining: The demise of LNG projects such as Woodside Petroleum Ltd.’s planned $40 billion Browse facility due to a plunge in energy prices is probably what will lift the market out of its current rut. Bloomberg reports buyers now have the advantage as U.S. exports add to a surge in shipments from Australia, exacerbating a global glut. The oversupply and the slide in energy prices the past two years have discouraged developers from committing to new LNG projects. “Ultimately, we’ll set ourselves up for a shortage at the other end, and there will be another scramble some time toward the end of this decade for LNG,” Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., tells Bloomberg. “Gas is structurally going to be in demand long term.” Read the full story.
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday and Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will return on Monday. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
