Business briefs: Gaspar promoted to COO

Cheniere exports
begin in January
Cheniere Energy will begin exporting liquefied natural gas in January, the Reuters news agency reported.
Reuters, quoting CEO Charif Souki at the Singapore International Energy Week, said the company expects to bring one LNG “train” online every six months into 2019, giving it seven supply trains at its Sabine Pass plant and at another in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Cheniere has sold most of its 31.5 million tons per year of LNG via long-term contracts, with about 4 million remaining for sale in spot markets, Reuters quoted Souki as saying.

Gaspar named
COO for WPX
Clay M. Gaspar, who spent his earliest days in Morgan City and still has family in the area, has been promoted to chief operating officer at WPX Energy in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a publicly held company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
Gaspar joined WPX in October 2014 as senior vice president of operations and resource development. Under Gaspar’s leadership, WPX has significantly decreased its development costs and operating expenses in support of the company’s plan to increase margins.
He is a member of The Society of Petroleum Engineers and has a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in petroleum and geosciences engineering from The University of Texas.

Broussard to head
UBS district
United Blood Services announces that Wilma Broussard is its new district director of field operations. Broussard, based in Lafayette, will lead the district’s recruitment, collection and resource efforts — which includes six sites in Louisiana and Mississippi (Morgan City, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Hattiesburg, Meridian and Tupelo).
A native of Lafayette, Broussard is a graduate of St. Thomas More and earned her Bachelor’s in Biological Science with an emphasis in medical technology and a Master’s in Communicative Disorders from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Geoffrey Stone joins
Terrebonne General
Orthopedic surgeon Geoffrey Stone, MD, has joined the active medical staff of Terrebonne General Medical Center, specializing in open and arthroscopic shoulder, elbow and sports medicine surgery.
Stone received his medical degree from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and completed his residency at the University of South Alabama Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Stone is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, Arthroscopy Association of North America, and the Alabama Orthopedic Society.
––Staff and Wire Reports

Some Bakken firms
filing for bankruptcy
BISMARCK, N.D. — Two more energy companies operating in North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the midst of slumping crude prices.
Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Samson Resources and Denver-based American Eagle Energy plan to sell off Bakken assets to pay debts.
Between June and late September, 10 oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy. Others have agreed to sell shale oil acreage and assets in North Dakota. Bismarck-based MDU Resources Corp. also is trying to sell off its oil and gas exploration subsidiary, Fidelity Exploration and Production Co.
North Dakota sweet crude on Tuesday was fetching about $36 a barrel — about half of what it sold for a year ago. The number of drilling rigs in North Dakota has plummeted by nearly two-thirds.

Gas prices down
again in La.
Average retail gasoline prices in Louisiana fell 3.6 cents per gallon last week averaging $1.94 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,436 gas outlets in Louisiana.
This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.2 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.20, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Louisiana during the past week, prices Sunday were 93.6 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 4.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 8.5 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 83.9 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
“October ends with the Halloween tradition of trick or treating. The good news for drivers is that the treats should extend into November,” said Jeff Pelton, GasBuddy’s senior petroleum analyst for the Northeast.
“As refineries finish up their planned and in some cases unplanned (notably in the Midwest) rounds of maintenance, gasoline should return to the pumps at very high levels. That, coupled with the lower demand that comes with the fall season, should push November retail prices to fall another 10 to 12 cents.”