The flat facts: The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States held steady this week at 2,008, compared to the week previous. The Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. reports 1,225 rigs were exploring for oil and 777 for natural gas. Six were listed as miscellaneous. The tally was higher than the same week year ago, when the firm reported 1,732 active rigs. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana lost four rigs, while Oklahoma gained six, Alaska picked up four, New Mexico was up three, Arkansas gained one, Texas lost six and North Dakota lost four. Colorado and Pennsylvania also dropped by two each, while California fell by one and West Virginia was unchanged. The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
The date debate: Any proposed changes to the Louisiana Constitution this year should be placed on the Nov. 6 statewide ballot rather than the Dec. 1 ballot, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana recommends in a research brief released today. “The state could save taxpayer dollars and take advantage of likely higher voter turnout by choosing the national election date on Nov. 6 over the less preferable December voting day,” says PAR President Robert Travis Scott. You can check out the nonpartisan research organization’s complete argument on the matter here.
Train in the distance: Transportation Consultants Inc. has formed a public-private partnership with the New Orleans Public Belt to complete a rail infrastructure expansion project to accommodate a larger volume of cargo, which will trigger the start of TCI’s second significant expansion in the past three years. TCI says the partnership will finance infrastructure improvements that will enable it to increase its capacity, generating additional commerce for the city, additional revenue for the Public Belt, and additional business for TCI. The infrastructure improvements facilitated by the public-private partnership will be made possible by financing secured by the NOPB. Based on a cooperative endeavor agreement between TCI and the NOPB, TCI will guarantee NOPB incremental annual revenue from switch and storage fees for a five-year period. Initial projections indicate the NOPB will recover the cost of construction within 18 months, with total incremental revenue of approximately $5.8 million over the next five years.
