LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Global growth will still be fairly weak this year, which will prevent industry from firing on all cylinders. But there’s no denying that industrial conditions have recently improved.”
Paul Dales, Capital Economics senior U.S. economist Article,1D
U.S. oil, gas rig count rises to 1,762
HOUSTON - Oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by three this week to 1,762.
The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,337 rigs were actively exploring for oil and 421 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, Baker Hughes counted 1,994 working rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states Texas gained 14 rigs and Wyoming one. Pennsylvania declined by five rigs.
Oklahoma lost two and Arkansas, Louisiana, North Dakota and West Virginia were down one each. Alaska, Colorado, California and New Mexico were unchanged.
The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
Iran prohibits pistachio exports
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has ordered a six-month ban on pistachio exports to try to control the price of the nut, which doubled in the past month.
Pistachios are among Iran’s top non-oil exports and widely consumed at home, bringing in an average of $1.5 billion a year and providing work for hundreds of thousands of people. Iran was long the world’s largest pistachio exporter, with over 200,000 tons a year, but was surpassed last year by the United States.
First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi told Iranian state TV on Friday that the ban is temporary and meant to help bring down the price of pistachios that doubled from about $3.18 per pound.
Western sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program have slowed the country’s economy and disrupted foreign trade.
- The Associated Press
DreamWorks licenses Russian firm
GLENDALE, Calif. - DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
said Friday it is licensing its characters to a developer of theme parks in Russia.
The Regions Group of Companies plans to open parks in St.
Petersburg, Moscow and the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in 2015.
DreamWorks said Friday that the parks will be Europe’s largest year-round indoor entertainment zones. The zones will be part of larger entertainment complexes, each featuring a mixed-use movie and concert hall, a movie theater, a hotel and a retail center.
DreamWorks shares rose 45 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close at $17.39.
- The Associated Press
CEO’s exit package worth $20 million
FORT WORTH - Tom Horton won’t get to lead the new American Airlines after it merges with US Airways, but he’ll get a going-away prize of nearly $20 million.
Horton will get $9.94 million in cash and an equal amount in stock in the new company after the merger.
He’ll also get an office and office help for two years, and lifetime flight and travel benefits.
American’s parent company, AMR Corp., disclosed the chief executive officer’s severance package in a regulatory filing late Thursday, shortly after announcing plans for an $11 billion merger with US Airways Group Inc. The companies hope to win regulatory approval and complete the deal by the end of September.
US Airways CEO Doug Parker will be chief executive of the new company, which will be called American Airlines Group Inc. Horton will serve as chairman for about a year before stepping down.
Horton joined American in 1985, jumped to AT&T for four years in the 2000s, then returned to the airline and became CEO the day before it filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2011.
AMR said in the filing that its board - of which Horton is chairman - approved the severance package as “reasonable and appropriate” because of his long service at the company, the success of the restructuring “and the value created for the company’s financial stakeholders.”
- The Associated Press
N.D. oil output returns after blizzard
North Dakota’s Bakken, one of the shale formations driving U.S. oil production up to a 20-year high, saw output grow in December after slipping in November for the first time in 20 months.
Output increased 5 percent to 704,360 barrels a day, the highest level ever, the North Dakota Industrial Commission said Friday. Production declined 2.2 percent in November from the previous month after a Nov. 10 blizzard dumped 8 inches of snow on Williston.
Increased production out of the Bakken, the Eagle Ford formation in southern Texas and the Permian Basin in western Texas helped U.S. oil output exceed 7.06 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 8, the highest level since December 1992.
“The theme for this month is ‘Back on Track,’” Lynn Helms, director of the state Industrial Commission’s Natural Resources Department, said during a conference call. “It’s exciting for us to see the November production decline was not repeated in December.”Airbus puts cadmium battery in A350
Airbus SAS said it will revert to traditional battery technology for its new A350 wide-body aircraft instead of the lithium ion power source that grounded Boeing Co.’s competing 787 Dreamliner after malfunctioning.
The change is being made to protect the program schedule and avoid certification delays, Airbus said in a statement Friday. The timeline, with first flight midyear and planned entry into service by late 2014, won’t change. Airbus said it will continue tests on the new batteries, while calling the cadmium type “proven and mastered.”
While Airbus has stressed that its battery architecture on the A350 differs from that of the Dreamliner, it didn’t want to risk moving ahead with a new technology while safety experts continue to struggle identifying the origins of the malfunctions on the Boeing 787. As standard batteries are twice the size of lithium-ion, Airbus will need to redesign the area where they’re housed and change some interfaces, a task that’s easier than for Boeing as the A350 isn’t yet in serial production.
“The root causes of the two recent industry ... incidents remain unexplained to the best of our knowledge,” Airbus said in a statement. “In this context, and with a view to ensuring the highest level of program certainty, Airbus has decided to activate its ‘Plan B.’ ”
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 28 on 02/16/2013