Latest Energy Headlines

All the headlines from our Energy Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Oil Rig Firm Transocean Awards Safety Bonuses Despite Gulf Tragedy

Apr 5 2011 // Transocean Ltd. gave its top executives bonuses for achieving the “best year in safety performance in our company’s history” — despite the explosion of its oil rig that killed 11 people and spilled 200...

Stuck Pipe Stopped Sealing of BP Oil Well: U.S. Report

Apr 4 2011 // The failure of the underwater blowout preventer that led to the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by a stuck section of drill pipe that blocked cutting devices from shearing and sealing the leaking...

BP Puts Gulf Oil Disaster Cost at $19 Billion So Far

Mar 30 2011 // BP Plc has so far spent $19 billion on last year’s disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill and believes the uncertainty over the ultimate total has decreased, a company executive said Tuesday. BP, operator of the Macondo...

Shipowner Calls for Suez Canal Boycott over Pirate Threat

Mar 17 2011 // A leading Norwegian shipowner called on tanker operators to boycott the Suez Canal which he said would force global powers to intervene in Somalia to crush piracy by forcing up oil and commodity prices. The call, which has...

Louisiana to Distribute $30M Oil Spill Tourism Grant

Mar 11 2011 // Louisiana will divide a $30 million BP grant for tourism marketing among all of the state’s parishes and will use a small slice to help fund an out-of-state spring tourism ad campaign sought by Lt. Gov. Jay...

BP Oil Spill Claims Chief Feinberg to Face Florida Lawmakers

Mar 10 2011 // The man in charge of paying BP claims for the Gulf oil spill will soon face a Florida legislative committee to answer questions about how the compensation scheme is going. Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who is overseeing the...

Judge Won’t Order Additional Damages Against Exxon for Valdez Spill

Mar 8 2011 // A federal judge has refused to order Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay an additional $92 million sought by the U.S. government and state of Alaska to address lingering damage from the 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound. U.S....

U.S. Judge Halts Ecuador Damages Enforcement Against Chevron

Mar 8 2011 // A U.S. judge Monday halted enforcement of an $18 billion award against Chevron Corp, siding with the oil company against Ecuadorean plaintiffs in a long-running dispute over Amazon rain forest pollution. The move comes...

Suspected Colombian Rebels Kidnap 23 Local Oil Workers

Mar 8 2011 // Suspected FARC guerrillas have captured 23 Colombian oil contractors carrying out exploration work for Canada’s Talisman Energy in a rare mass kidnapping, authorities said Monday. Colombia, Latin America’s No....

Few Taking Final Offers to Settle Oil Spill Claims

Mar 3 2011 // Records show that in the last two weeks more than 8,100 people and businesses have been offered final payments from BP’s oil spill compensation fund, but few have accepted so far. Gulf Coast Claims Facility data show...

BP Shows Reluctance to Fix Gulf Oil Spill Damage: Official

Mar 3 2011 // The vice chairman of a task force set up by President Barack Obama to restore the Gulf Coast criticized BP PLC this week for what he described as the oil company’s increasing reluctance to repair the damage inflicted...

BP Oil Spill Claims Fund Alters Some Payment Rules

Feb 22 2011 // The administrator of BP’s $20 billion Gulf oil spill fund announced new rules on how final payments will be determined in the highly criticized claims process, but the central payment formula remained unchanged from...

BP Claims Fund Placed Under Judicial Oversight

Feb 21 2011 // Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of BP Plc’s fund to compensate victims of last year’s oil spill, could be forced to revamp dramatically how he handles claims now that the fund has come under the...

Iran Oil Tanker Operator Says Ship Insurers Decline to Renew Coverage

Feb 18 2011 // Iran’s biggest crude oil tanker operator, NITC, said on Friday that its club of ship insurers had declined to renew policy cover for the coming year due to the impact of tightening sanctions in the European...

Shippers Say Somali Piracy Threat Worsening by the Week

Feb 18 2011 // Somali piracy is worsening by the week and governments lack the political will to tackle the crisis, which is threatening world trade routes, shipping industry officials said on Friday. Shippers have warned that more than...

BP Workers Might Have Prevented Rig Accident If Consulted: Report

Feb 18 2011 // BP had workers on the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig who could have prevented the missteps that led to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but they were not consulted, the White House oil spill commission said on...

Mississippi Gov. Barbour Says BP Oil Spill Was Preventable

Feb 17 2011 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said that the Gulf Coast oil spill occurred because the companies involved deviated from industry standards, not because of the inherent risk of drilling offshore. “I think the biggest...

Suit Claims BP Official Quit Over Safety Issues Before Gulf Disaster

Feb 16 2011 // A former official with BP’s drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico resigned just months before last year’s oil spill because of disagreements with the oil giant over its commitment to safety, according to a...

Ecuador Court Orders Chevron to Pay $8.6 Billon; Company to Appeal

Feb 15 2011 // A court in Ecuador’s Amazon told Chevron Corp Monday to pay $8.6 billion in environmental damages, but the U.S. oil company vowed to fight on in a lawsuit seen as a global test case. Chevron said it would appeal,...

Louisiana Presses BP for Oyster Money

Feb 11 2011 // Louisiana’s congressional delegation is asking BP to help Louisiana’s oyster industry immediately. In November, Louisiana asked BP PLC to give it $15 million so the state could start repairing oyster beds...