Business news in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I think this will be the year of a truck comeback.”

Jesse Toprak, TrueCar.com senior analyst Article, 1D

U.S. rig count increases by 10 to 1,764

HOUSTON - Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by 10 this week to 1,764.

The Houston-based company said in its weekly report on Friday that 1,403 rigs were exploring for oil and 354 for natural gas. Seven were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, there were 1,965 rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Alaska and Oklahoma each gained five rigs, while the totals in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming increased by one. Texas lost three rigs, and Louisiana and New Mexico each decreased by one.

Arkansas, California, Colorado and West Virginia remained unchanged.

The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

  • The Associated Press

Judge OKs suit against Exxon Mobil

HOUSTON - A federal judge has declined to throw out a 2010 environmental lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. over emissions from its Baytown oil refinery.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston on Thursday adopted a magistrate’s April 3 recommendation that the Sierra Club and Environment Texas lawsuit be allowed to proceed.

Hittner in 2011 also declined to dismiss the lawsuit that alleges the nation’s largest refinery violated air-pollution laws thousands of times since 2005.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil didn’t immediately comment Friday. The company previously denied the allegations and said emissions from its Baytown refinery were lower than limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Luke Metzger with Environment Texas said the ruling vindicates the rights of citizens to bring polluters to justice when state and federal agencies aren’t getting the job done.

Convicted traders settle SEC lawsuit

Two former day traders who were convicted of trading on stock tips gleaned from the wife of a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. salesman settled claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jamil Bouchareb agreed to pay $1 million and Daniel Corbin $191,000 to settle an SEC lawsuit. The men pleaded guilty to trading on confidential information passed by Matthew Devlin, the former Lehman salesman, whose wife worked on corporate deals as a public-relations executive. Devlin’s wife wasn’t charged.

Bouchareb pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud in May 2009. Corbin pleaded guilty in May 2011 to the same charges.

Bouchareb was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Corbin got six months. The SEC settlements come in addition to the $1.6 million Bouchareb was ordered to forfeit in the criminal case and Corbin’s $1 million criminal forfeiture.

  • Bloomberg News

Coast Guard investigating Illinois oil spill

ALTON, Ill. - The U.S. Coast Guard is assessing the environmental impact of about 300 gallons of crude oil it said spilled into the Mississippi River after more than a dozen barges briefly broke free near Alton, Ill.

The Coast Guard said a vessel hit an area where barges are docked on the river around 1 a.m. Friday, causing 14 to break away from their moorings. Those barges then hit various facilities and another barge loading crude oil, which caused the spill of about seven barrels of oil.

Coast Guard spokesman Colin Fogarty said there’s no evidence any oil made its way to the riverbanks.

The accident forced about an hour-long closure of a 4-mile stretch of the river. All the runaway barges were corralled and secured.

  • The Associated Press

Ford hybrids selling at record pace

Ford Motor Co., seeking to challenge Toyota Motor Corp.’s dominance in gasoline-electric vehicles, said it will pass its full year record for U.S. hybrid sales this month on demand for its Fusion and C-Max models.

Hybrid deliveries for Ford reached a monthly record of 8,481 in April, bringing the total this year to 29,561, said Erich Merkle, U.S. sales analyst for the Dearborn, Mich.-based company.

Ford’s annual record for such sales was 35,496 in 2010.

Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally has rolled out the new C-Max hybrids and electric versions of its redesigned Fusion sedan in the past year to take on Toyota, which has dominated with its Prius hybrids since the early 2000s. The new models build on Ford’s effort to add more fuel-efficient smaller cars that complement its strength in pickups and utility vehicles.

“We’re … growing our sales the fastest in the largest hybrid markets in the country,” Merkle said Thursday. Sales of gasoline-electric Fusions beat the Camry hybrid in April, and three of the top markets for Fusion hybrids this year are Los Angeles, Washington and San Francisco, Merkle said.

Ford’s share of U.S. hybrid sales was 18 percent last month, its highest ever and an increase from 3 percent a year earlier, he said. Only Toyota, at 58 percent, has a bigger share, according to Ford’s data. Ford has been outselling General Motors Co.’s hybrids in the U.S. since late last year, Merkle said.

  • Bloomberg News

IBM focus of Justice Department probe

NEW YORK - IBM Corp. is being investigated by the Justice Department over corruption allegations in Poland, Argentina, Bangladesh and Ukraine, adding to bribery charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Justice Department is investigating whether IBM violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the company said in an April 30 filing. In Poland, the department is focusing on a transaction that the Polish Central Anti-Corruption Bureau already was studying, the company said. It involves allegations of a former IBM employee selling to the Polish government.

The Justice Department inquiry adds scrutiny in new territory as IBM tries to settle with the SEC over activity in China and South Korea.

It’s not uncommon for global companies to face Foreign Corrupt Practices Act reviews - Anheuser-Busch InBev said in March that its India joint venture was being investigated by the SEC for violations of the act. Still, the investigations can rankle investors. Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Macau unit dropped in March after the parent company said it probably violated the law.

IBM is cooperating with the investigations, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company said in the filing.

In March 2011, the company said it had agreed to pay $10 million to settle with the SEC over allegations that it bribed officials to win at least $54 million in government contracts.

Business, Pages 28 on 05/04/2013

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