News in brief

Spectra blast hurts 1 in Pennsylvania

A Spectra Energy Corp. natural gas pipeline exploded Friday in western Pennsylvania, injuring a man and disrupting shipment of about 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas a day.

Flames burst from Spectra's 36-inch Texas Eastern pipeline in Salem Township in Westmoreland County about 7:30 a.m., John Poister, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said in an email.

Spectra Energy's 24-inch natural gas line under the Arkansas River near downtown Little Rock -- a segment of the Texas Eastern system -- ruptured on May 31, 2015. The break released 3.9 million cubic feet of natural gas into the river and pelted a nearby riverboat with chunks of concrete.

Friday's blast created a tower of flames that engulfed a nearby house, injuring a man inside who was transported to a Pittsburgh hospital, Poister said.

"Our first concern is for the safety of the community, our employees and any others who may be affected," Phil West, a spokesman for Spectra, wrote in an email.

-- Bloomberg News

Acxiom's LiveRamp extending to Europe

Acxiom Corp.'s LiveRamp is now offering its onboarding data services in the United Kingdom and France, the company said this week.

LiveRamp said its clients and partners will be able to use the service to move offline data across their marketing mediums to reach consumers, the news release said.

Onboarding is the process of converting information to a digital format so it can be used for marketing campaigns. Acxiom gathers consumer information from public records, shopping habits and clients to help its customers develop targeted marketing campaigns.

"Our expansion into Europe represents a significant step toward our vision for powering a world where all marketing is relevant," said Travis May, president and general manager of LiveRamp, in a prepared statement.

-- Jessica Seaman

Index gives up 4.55; Wal-Mart loses 2.9%

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, lost 4.55 to 325.17 Friday.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell 2.9 percent.

Murphy USA Inc. shares fell 2 percent.

Murphy Oil shares rose almost 1 percent.

Windstream Holdings Inc. shares fell 1.1 percent.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 04/30/2016

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