LITTLE ROCK — BHP shale fuel assets seen as losing value
BHP Billiton, the second-largest producer in the natural-gas producing Fayetteville Shale, may have to write off $9 billion from the value of its shale gas assets, for which the world’s largest miner paid $20.1 billion last year, according to analysts with Credit Suisse.
Last year, Australiabased BHP spent $4.75 billion buying Chesapeake Energy’s Fayetteville Shale assets in north-central Arkansas, and $15.1 billion purchasing PetroHawk Energy.
At the time of the purchase, natural gas prices were about $4 per thousand cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, prices fell to $2.12 per thousand cubic feet, the lowest in 10 years.
The Australian, a newspaper owned by The Wall Street Journal, reported Thursday that BHP doesn’t need to revalue its purchases until after the fiscal year, which ends in June.
Ex-Wal-Mart chief sells millions in stock
H. Lee Scott Jr., the former president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., sold $6.12 million in Wal-Mart stock, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Lee, who is on the Bentonville retailer’s board of directors, disposed of 100,000 shares at $61.22 per share in a transaction dated Tuesday, the SEC filing said.
Scott joined the discount retailer in 1979 and stepped down from his Wal-Mart duties in February 2009. Michael Duke, the former head of Wal-Mart’s international division replaced Scott and remains president and chief executive.
Scott’s direct and indirect stock holdings are more than 723,000 shares after Tuesday’s sale.
Founded by Sam Walton in 1962, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has more than 10,130 stores under 69 different trade names in 27 countries.
Seven stocks decline, push index down 1.43
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.43 to 232.26 on Friday.
Nine stocks advanced and seven declined.
P.A.M. Transportation Services and Deltic Timber each dropped about 4 percent.
Acxiom had the biggest increase of the day, but rose only 0.6 percent.
For the week, nine stocks fell and seven gained ground.
USA Truck lost 8.2 percent.
Acxiom rose 1.6 percent.
Volume Friday was 23.8 million shares, compared with average daily volume of 23.9 million shares.
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 28 on 03/31/2012