U.S. oil, gas rig count down by 3 to 421
HOUSTON -- The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by three this week to 421, snapping three weeks of gains after a slide that lasted months and pushed the count to record-low levels amid depressed energy prices.
A year ago, 859 rigs were active.
Houston oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that 330 rigs sought oil and 90 explored for natural gas. One was listed as miscellaneous.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained three rigs, North Dakota two and Alaska and Colorado one each.
Louisiana declined by five, Oklahoma four and West Virginia one.
Arkansas, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out last month at 404.
-- The Associated Press
In filing, lottery firm says secrets stolen
ATLANTA -- A company that works with more than 40 state lotteries in the U.S. and several overseas said in court filings that a key executive orchestrated a "massive theft" of its most-prized secrets before taking a job with a rival company.
Scientific Games International Inc. is asking a federal judge to prevent the information from being used outside the company in the multibillion-dollar lottery industry.
The company, with offices in Alpharetta, Ga., filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Georgia. It says a former vice president, Brian Keith Cash, downloaded thousands of computer files and then left for a $250,000-a-year position with International Game Technology in Florida.
Cash didn't immediately return a phone message left at his home Friday.
-- The Associated Press
Mississippi capital city, airport join suit
JACKSON, Miss. -- Jackson is joining a lawsuit filed in April to fight state attempts to restructure control of the city's airport.
The Clarion-Ledger reported the city and the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority have filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Jeffery Stallworth in federal court, in which he claims House Bill 2162 violates his Fifth Amendment rights as a resident, taxpayer and landowner in Jackson.
In May, Gov. Phil Bryant signed the bill, which creates a regional authority to control the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport.
"Today, I stand not just as a mayor, but I also stand as a citizen as well as a taxpayer," Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber said at a news conference Thursday. "The illegal takeover of our airport infringes on our basic fundamental principles and, again, constitutional rights."
City Attorney Monica Joiner said the city's claims will be somewhat different from those in Stallworth's complaint, but they will generally allege the same infringement of rights. She added that the city's complaint may also include Fourteenth Amendment claims.
The Federal Aviation Administration must grant the new commission's application and certificate of authority before it will have governing authority over the airport. The FAA released a new policy June 6 suggesting it will not take action while litigation is pending.
-- The Associated Press
GM to invest $290M in Corvette plant
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Kentucky officials say General Motors Corp. plans to invest $290 million at the automaker's Corvette plant in Bowling Green.
The company's North American manufacturing manager, Arvin Jones, said Friday that the investment includes technology upgrades to improve the Kentucky plant's manufacturing process.
The investment announcement was made by Gov. Matt Bevin's office in Frankfort.
Bevin's office said the investment includes a $153 million project aimed at improving vehicle assembly line processes. The latest investment follows a series of upgrades and expansions in recent years at the plant in south-central Kentucky.
To encourage the investment, Kentucky officials recently gave preliminary approval for GM to qualify for up to $3 million in tax incentives on the basis of the level of investment and job creation.
-- The Associated Press
Capital-goods orders fall 0.7% in May
Orders for business equipment unexpectedly fell in May by the most in three months, pointing to weakness in investment.
Orders for nonmilitary capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment in items like computers, engines and communications gear, declined 0.7 percent after falling 0.4 percent in April. Shipments of such business equipment, used in calculating gross domestic product, fell 0.5 percent after climbing 0.6 percent
Total bookings for durable goods -- or those meant to last at least three years -- slumped a more-than-expected 2.2 percent.
Sluggish global demand, the lingering effects of last year's surge in the dollar, weaker corporate profits and a sharp drop in investment in the energy sector have weighed on companies' investment decisions. American factories are now faced with a new challenge -- the fallout from the U.K.'s decision to exit the EU.
"'It's a reflection of the uncertainty we've seen emerging, not only in the U.S. but also globally," said Millan Mulraine, deputy head of U.S. macro strategy for TD Securities USA LLC in New York, who had projected a drop in orders for business equipment. "The outlook is likely to soften even more. We may see a further down drift in investment activity."
-- Bloomberg News
Henkel to buy Snuggle maker for $3.6B
Henkel AG agreed to buy laundry-detergents-maker Sun Products Corp. for $3.6 billion as Chief Executive Officer Hans Van Bylen marked his first weeks at the helm with the German company's biggest U.S. acquisition.
The maker of Snuggle fabric conditioner generated annual revenue last year of about $1.6 billion, Dusseldorf-based Henkel said in a statement Friday. Sun, based in Wilton, Conn., employs about 2,000 people and has two production sites and one research and development facility in the U.S. The seller was Vestar Capital Partners.
Sun Products gives Henkel scale to take on Procter & Gamble Co. in the U.S. market, helping to offset heavy discounting by retailers.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 06/25/2016