SEC showdown: LSU will host the 2018 SEC MBA Case Competition on April 12-14. The competition for graduate students provides opportunities for SEC business schools to showcase their students skills in solving real world problems. This year’s contest will feature teams of MBA students—divided into four divisions—tasked with solving a business problem facing Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. The winning team will receive a trophy and a $10,000 award. The second place winner receives $6,000, the third place $3,000 and the fourth place $1,000. There are also $250 awards for individual winners in the best presenter and best question-and-answer categories. Get more information.
To the highest bidder: The U.S. Department of the Interior will offer 77.3 million acres offshore of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for oil and gas exploration and development. As The Advertiser reports, This will be the largest such lease sale in the country’s history. It will take place on Wednesday. The sale will include all available unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and it will be livestreamed online from New Orleans. Money received from OCS leases (including high bids, rental payments and royalty payments) are directed to the U.S. Treasury, Gulf Coast states, the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Historic Preservation Fund. Read the full story.
One by one: The number of rigs actively drilling for oil and gas in Louisiana fell by one this week to 57, according to Houston-based Baker Hughes’ latest tally. Of them, 12 are drilling offshore. The U.S. weekly count of active oil rigs rose by four to 800, which offset the loss of four rigs recorded the week previous—which was the first time in seven weeks the total tally declined. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural gas rigs, climbed by six this week to 990.
