No more, no less: Louisiana was among eight oil and gas states that saw their active rig count unchanged from a week ago, according to the latest tally by Houston-based Baker Hughes. Louisiana has 57 rigs actively exploring for oil or gas throughout the state. This week’s U.S. count increased by five to 995. That exceeds the 809 rigs that were active this time a year ago. Of them, 804 rigs drilled for oil this week and 190 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas increased by seven rigs and Alaska and Colorado each gained two. Oklahoma lost four rigs, Utah decreased by two and Ohio lost one. Along with Louisiana, Arkansas, California, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.
Laying a legend to rest: As throngs of people paid their respects to Tom Benson at his funeral in New Orleans today, Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered the U.S. and Louisiana flags to be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol and all public buildings until sunset today in his honor. “We lost one of our great ambassadors, but his mark will be left on New Orleans and the rest of our state for generations,” says Edwards in a prepared statement. Benson, a successful businessman and longtime owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, died on March 15 at the age of 90. Read Edwards’ full executive order.
Here’s the plan: President Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending measure today, averting a midnight government shutdown just hours after declaring he was considering a veto. Trump said he was “very disappointed” in the package, in part because it did not fully fund his plans for a border wall with Mexico and did not address some 700,000 “Dreamer” immigrants who are now protected from deportation under a program that he has moved to eliminate. But Trump praised the increases the bill provides for military spending and said he had “no choice but to fund our military.” The bill signing came a few hours after Trump created last-minute drama by saying in a tweet that he was “considering” a veto. The Associated Press has the full story.
