Drill, baby, drill: Independent petroleum producer McMoRan Exploration Co. says work is under way to begin commercial natural gas production from its Davy Jones No. 1 well off the Louisiana coast. McMoRan estimates the area—consisting of four lease blocks in the shallow-water Gulf of Mexico shelf—could contain 2 trillion to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The company adds that initial samples indicate the natural gas is of high quality. Blocking from drilling fluid, however, has prevented the company from getting a measurable flow rate. McMoRan is in the process of removing tubing from the well and clearing drilling fluid to get a flow rate during the second quarter, followed by commercial production soon after that.
Nearing the last resort: The Louisiana Supreme Court has struck down another attempt by the state’s property insurer of last resort to avoid paying more than $100 million for late adjustment of hurricane damage claims in 2005. Today’s action reversed a state appeals court decision that had blocked the banker for Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from revealing where it is holding the company’s money. Citizens is pursuing a possible U.S. Supreme Court appeal and contends that $6 million it put up for an appeal bond should cover a federal appeal. But the state’s high court has said that money covered only state appeals—and Citizens has lost at all state court avenues. About 18,500 policyholders won $92.8 million. Since the original decision, the bill has grown to about $105 million with judicial interest.
On the books: Facebook is spending $1 billion to buy the photo-sharing company Instagram in the social network’s largest acquisition ever. Instagram lets people apply filters to photos they snap with their mobile devices and share them with friends and strangers. Some of the filters make the photos look as if they’ve been taken in the 1970s or on Polaroid cameras. “This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page. “We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all.” Facebook says it plans to keep Instagram running independently. Check out the full story from The Associated Press here.
It’s a boy! Metro Councilwoman Tara Wicker announced today she has given birth to a baby boy. Magnus Matthew-Makena Wicker weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces when he was born on Thursday at 11:20 a.m. “[My husband] Mike and I are so happy to finally have Magnus here with us. He is truly a joyous gift for our family. We believe in Baton Rouge, and we know that it is truly a great place to raise kids. We are very excited about the new addition to the District 10 family!” reads a statement released by Wicker.
