Saturday, April 20, 2013
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We are mapping out a return-to-service plan, and we look forward to getting our 787s back in the air.”
Christen David, a Boeing spokesman, on the FAA’s approval of a plan to fix the plane’s batteries Article, 1D
Hickory Hills group sues LR developer
The Hickory Hills Property Owners Association has filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking payment of $20,544.63 from Roger Stephen Clary and Diane Clary for delinquent property assessments.
Roger Stephen Clary, a developer whose portfolio once included the Shackleford Crossings mall in Little Rock before he lost it in foreclosure in 2010, pleaded guilty to an unrelated federal mail fraud charge earlier this year.
The homeowners association in its filing made Wednesday seeks foreclosure on the house at 12 Hickory Hills Circle as an “absolute right” of nonpayment of assessments.
The Pulaski County assessor lists the market value of the 6,312-square-foot house at $979,750. A voice mail left for Roger Stephen Clary at his residential listing on Friday was not immediately returned.
U.S. oil, gas rig count declines by 13
HOUSTON - Oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. said the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 13 this week to 1,758.
The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,371 rigs were exploring for oil and 379 for gas. Eight were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, there were 1,972 rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, California and Colorado each gained two rigs while Louisiana and Pennsylvania were up one apiece.
Texas led this week’s decline, down 11 rigs. Oklahoma fell by five, and Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming were off two each. Arkansas and West Virginia were unchanged.
The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
Mississippi 3rd state to sue BP over spill
JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi has become the third state to sue BP PLC over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Attorney General Jim Hood announced Friday that Mississippi had filed suits in federal and state court. The move comes one day before the three-year statute of limitations expires for claims related to the April 20, 2010, explosion and subsequent spill.
Hood said he wanted to settle, but says BP refused to negotiate. He also said the oil company refused to waive the statute of limitations.
A spokesman for BP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Louisiana and Alabama sued BP earlier and are participating in a federal trial in New Orleans to determine the liability of BP and its contractors. Mississippi hadn’t been participating because it hadn’t sued.
Budget deal is crucial, Greenspan says
The U.S. economy “is going nowhere” until a budget agreement is reached that includes debt reduction to revive sustainable growth, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said.
“Unless we remove some of the deep-seated uncertainty, especially for investments in very long-lived assets,” growth will remain under 2 percent, Greenspan said Friday during a television interview.
Greenspan said he supports the $2.5 trillion package of spending cuts and tax increases proposed by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the leaders of President Barack Obama’s national debt commission. An update of the plan released Friday in Washington includes $740 billion in increased revenue over the next decade that Republicans have deemed unacceptable and a higher eligibility age for Medicare that President Barack Obama has rejected.
Their plan would reduce debt as a share of gross domestic product below 70 percent by 2023, compared with 73 percent by that year in Obama’s budget released this month and 55 percent in House Republicans’ budget.
“The most fundamental issue that can be addressed at this stage is getting the budget under control,” Greenspan said. The Simpson Bowles plan is “the only vehicle that is going to lead to a solution to bring the debt down in a permanent and credible way.”
Bahamas Petroleum upbeat after study
Bahamas Petroleum Co., the only explorer searching for oil off the Atlantic archipelago, expects to find crude even after efforts off nearby Cuba failed.
A seismic study by Bahamas Petroleum, or BPC, showed that the Great Bahama Bank may have oil at shallower water depths, making it easier to drill, and a layer of salt keeping the crude in place, Chief Executive Officer Simon Potter said in London.
BPC is looking for a partner to raise at least $100 million to drill the country’s first exploration well in about 27 years. It holds five licenses covering more than 4 billion barrels of potential oil resources and is seeking three more with Statoil ASA. The nation in March allowed exploration to go ahead on the condition a referendum be called before the first oil is pumped.
“Let’s go and bake the cake, let’s establish commercial reserves,” Potter said in an interview. Should a discovery be made, “there’ll be a much more positive issue to be managing.”
BPC’s planned well, to be started in about a year’s time, will target a “distinct” structure about 12 miles from Cuba, Potter said.
19,000 Nissan, Infiniti SUVs recalled
DETROIT - Nissan is recalling more than 19,000 Nissan and Infiniti sport utility vehicles because a brake part can fail and make it harder for the driver to stop the car.
The recall affects Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti JX SUVs from the 2013 model year.
The automaker says an iron brake-caliper part wasn’t made properly and can crack or fail. If that happens, the brake calipers can move and hit the wheel. That can reduce braking power and increase the risk of a crash. Nissan said Friday that it has no reports of crashes or injuries.
The SUVs were made from Dec. 3, 2012, through Jan. 29, 2013.
Nissan will notify owners starting in May. Dealers will inspect the vehicles and replace the parts free of charge if needed.
Business, Pages 30 on 04/20/2013