Business briefs

U.S. rig count drops by 74 to 1,676
HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. tumbled by 74 this week to 1,676.
The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report 1,366 rigs were exploring for oil and 310 for gas. A year ago 1,777 rigs were active.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas’ count dove by 44, North Dakota dropped six, Oklahoma fell five, California and Wyoming each lost four and New Mexico declined by three. Arkansas, Kansas and West Virginia were down two each and Colorado, Louisiana and Utah were off one apiece.
Ohio gained one rig.
Alaska and Pennsylvania were unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

Lake Charles
gets new station for electric cars
LAKE CHARLES (AP) — Electric car company Tesla Motors has opened a new station in western Louisiana where its clients can charge up their vehicles.
The company says its new location in Lake Charles will enable drivers of its Model S vehicles to replenish a half charge in 20 minutes. A half charge enables a Model S driver to travel about 150 miles. A fully-charged Model S has a range of about 265 miles, the company says.
Tesla has two Supercharger stations in Houston, and a smaller two-car charger at a Best Western in La Place.
The company plans to open another Supercharger station in Baton Rouge soon and a full service center in New Orleans after that.
Superchargers are what the company calls its proprietary charging stations.

Greg Berthelot joins MidSouth Bank
HOUMA (AP) — Thibodaux native Greg Berthelot has joined MidSouth Bank as city president for its Houma market, the bank announced in a news release.
Berthelot, who will lead the bank’s growth throughout the Houma-Thibodaux area, has 30 years of banking experience, having spent the last 15 years serving customers in the Houma-Thibodaux market. He most recently was executive vice president for First National Bank USA in Boutte.
Berthelot has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Nicholls State University.

Rice board head: Cuban trade could be big for Louisiana
LAFAYETTE (AP) — Lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba could mean the return of a major market for Louisiana rice, Louisiana Rice Promotion Board chairman Kevin Berken says.
He said Cuba imports about 600,000 metric tons of rice a year, with Vietnam as its biggest supplier.
“Prior to the embargo, Cuba was the largest importer of Louisiana rice,” he told a conference Friday at the Petroleum Club. “So it is critically important for us to be able open trade with other countries, Cuba being the main focus. It has been a focus for the last 20 or 30 years.”
Berken was among four panelists. It happened to be a day after the government announced President Barack Obama’s amendments to existing Cuban sanctions.
Only Congress can fully end the 54-year embargo.
“Eventually, the embargo will be lifted, and there isn’t a thing in the world that Cuba doesn’t need,” said Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. Its location 700 miles from Louisiana’s coast makes New Orleans an especially convenient port, he said.
LaGrange said there’s talk of a Cuban consulate being built in the U.S. and New Orleans may be vying against Tampa, Florida, as a host city, he said.
“Louisiana should be next in line,” he said. “We need a consulate in New Orleans.

2-week deadline on Keystone comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agencies have been given a Feb. 2 deadline to provide advice on whether to move forward with the hotly debated Keystone XL pipeline.
A State Department official said in an emailed statement that other federal agencies dealing with environment, commerce and other matters were notified Friday that they have a little over two weeks left to weigh in.
The department didn’t set a timeline for when it would make its long-awaited judgment on whether the pipeline from Canada was in the U.S. national interest.
The official said that review continues. Once all information is received, the department will analyze the matter and make a determination.
The State Department request comes a week after the House approved a bill authorizing construction of the pipeline. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate.
From staff and Associated Press reports.
where Republican and Democratic supporters have said they hope the legislation could win final approval and be sent to the White House by the end of next week.
President Barack Obama has promised to veto that legislation as long as the State Department is still conducting its formal review.
Late last week, the Nebraska Supreme Court eliminated another obstacle, tossing out a lawsuit challenging the pipeline’s route. Pipeline opponents in Nebraska filed two new suits Friday over the proposed route.
The 1,179-mile pipeline would carry an estimated 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines on its way to Gulf Coast refineries. Since the pipeline was proposed six years ago, it has sparked intense debate over its potential impact on employment and the environment.