Rig rundown: Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 48 this week to 1,310 amid depressed oil prices. The Associated Press reports that in those counts, Louisiana gained one rig for the second straight week. The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report that 1,019 rigs were exploring for oil and 289 for gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, 1,771 rigs were active. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas’ count fell by 22, Oklahoma lost 16, North Dakota and Wyoming each lost four, Alaska lost three, Colorado lost two and California and Utah each lost one. New Mexico gained six rigs, while Arkansas, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia were unchanged.
Distinct company: LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business on Friday announced its 2015 inductees into its Hall of Distinction. Matt McCarroll, Dale Redman and Richard Sturlese will be inducted at the Hall of Distinction Banquet on Friday, March 6, at LSU’s Business Education Complex. McCarroll is the founder, president and chief executive officer of Fieldwood Energy, a Houston-based portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings. Redman is the interim chief financial officer of Amedisys Inc., a public home health and hospice company with 13,000 employees across the United States. Sturlese is a retired owner and partner of Acadian Ambulance Service Inc., headquartered in Lafayette. LSU has the full story.
Seeking a stay: The Justice Department will seek a stay of an order by a federal judge in Texas on Monday that derailed the Obama administration’s actions on immigration, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. Bloomberg reports that the request will be filed no later than Monday, according to Earnest. Louisiana and 25 other states sued the federal government last year after Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson issued a series of memoranda to agencies responsible for immigration matters that established new deferred-action policies, enabling some undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. and apply for work permits and some government benefits.The states accused the Obama administration of overstepping its constitutional authority and of sidestepping the normal process for rule-making. Bloomberg has the full story.
