Energy firm to move only 2 rigs from state
BHP Billiton Ltd. plans to move its only two drilling rigs out of the state as the company scales back its drilling operations in the Fayetteville Shale, the Australianbased company said Friday.
“Our Fayetteville technical position is unchanged, and we are very pleased with the development of those reserves,” the company said in a release. “We just need to gain a higher confidence in gas prices. We will also continue to support a significant number of wells that are non-operated.”
BHP Billiton acquired its natural-gas assets from Chesapeake Energy in 2011 and is one of the three main operators in the state. The other two are Southwestern Energy Co. and XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp.
As of Friday, there were 14 rigs in the state, 12 of which were in the Fayetteville Shale, according to Baker Hughes, an oil-fields services company. There were 33 rigs drilling for natural gas at the start of 2012. In 2008, at the height of drilling in the shale, there were about 60 rigs.
- Jessica SeamanState tech authority
gets NLR president
Tim Atkinson of North Little Rock will be the new president of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, Gov. Mike Beebe announced Friday.
The authority was created in 1983 to encourage scientific research, technology development and math, science and engineering education.
The authority’s board of directors voted May 29 to select Atkinson, 45, to fill the position that opened when John Ahlen retired earlier this year. The president serves at the will of the governor. Atkinson starts Monday.
An assistant provost at the University of Central Arkansas since 2008, Atkinson led research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences from 2001-08 and at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute from 1999-2001.
He holds a bachelor’s of science in biology from Tennessee Technological University, a master’s in higher education from Vanderbilt University and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
- Sarah D. Wire
Trade volume high, but state index drops
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 0.92 to 274.71 Friday.
Nine stocks advanced and seven declined. Arkansas Best rose 14.8 percent on almost seven times its average volume. First Federal Bancshares was up 2.2 percent on almost eight times its average volume.
For the week, 10 stocks gained ground and six fell.
Home BancShares climbed 24.3 percent for the week, while Arkansas Best improved 21.2 percent.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 25 on 06/29/2013