LITTLE ROCK — Commission plugs
well tied to quakes
The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission last week completed plugging a disposal well for waste water from hydraulic fracturing in the Fayetteville Shale in north-central Arkansas, one of four linked to thousands of minor earthquakes between 2010 and 2011.
Shane Khoury, Oil and Gas Commission deputy director and general counsel, said Monday that the state likely will have to use money from the “abandoned and orphan well plugging fund” derived from fees imposed on oil and gas companies. The final cost for plugging the well has not been determined.
The company that owned the well, Oklahoma City-based Clarita Operating, had to post a $50,000 bond with the commission before it drilled. Khoury said the final cost of plugging the well will most likely be about $85,000.
After the state shut down the well in July 2011, Clarita filed for bankruptcy. Khoury said the commission would ask the bankruptcy court for the difference between the bond and the actual cost.
Fashion Institute honors Dillard
The Fashion Institute of Technology of New York honored Dillard’s Inc. Vice President William Dillard III, a release from the school said.
The Fashion Institute said it honored Dillard because of his leadership in the retail industry.
William Lauder, executive chairman of The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., also was honored at the school’s annual benefit gala March 15 in New York.
As vice president of Little Rock-based Dillard’s, William Dillard is responsible for accessories, beauty, intimate apparel and home merchandise.
The event raised just under $2 million to benefit the Fashion Institute’s educational development fund, which provides scholarships and student support services.
State index climbs;
14 stocks advance
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 3.07 to 237.23 on Monday.
Fourteen Arkansas stocks advanced, one declined and one remained unchanged.
“U.S stocks jumped more than 1 percent on news that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that low interest rates are needed to help prop up the labor market,” said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
USA Truck Inc.fell 23 cents, or 2.73 percent, to end the day at $8.21.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 21 on 03/27/2012