Meet the cohort: Shell, in collaboration with the Louisiana Small Business Development Center, has named the 23 businesses for the 2025 Louisiana cohort of its flagship enterprise development program, Shell LiveWire. Harness-3D and Sophisto are two of the Baton Rouge-based businesses that were selected for the program. Meet the full cohort.
Weakening projections: Oil demand growth is forecast to be weaker than previously projected, with experts pointing to escalating global trade tensions weighing on the global economy. The Paris-based International Energy Agency says that oil markets are in for a bumpy ride with arduous trade negotiations expected to take place during the coming 90-day reprieve on tariffs and possibly beyond. Read more from the Wall Street Journal.
March drop: U.S. import prices unexpectedly fell in March, pulled down by decreasing costs for energy products, the latest indication that inflation was subsiding before President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs came into effect. Import prices dipped 0.1% last month, the first decline since September, after a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in February, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, would be unchanged. Read more from Reuters.