Analysis: Lawmakers must make decisions on oil spill money
Nearly eight years after an explosion unleashed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi’s elective representatives still must decide how to spend part of the compensation for the spill.
Anti-drilling protesters shout, disrupt oil, gas lease sale
Protesters opposed to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico disrupted an oil and gas lease sale Wednesday, chanting and waving signs as government officials read bids from companies for the right to explore and develop fossil fuels offshore.
Surveys explore U-boat, oil spill impact
The photos taken nearly a mile under the Gulf of Mexico are so clear that small holes are visible in a lifeboat that may have gone down or been scuttled when a passenger ship was sunk by a Nazi submarine in 1942.
Feds, Mississippi in dispute over state waters
Since July 2013, Mississippi has claimed its state waters extend nine miles south into the Gulf of Mexico.
The federal government refuses to recognize the declaration, standing by a 1960 U.S. Supreme Court decision that determined the offshore boundary for Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama was three miles out.
MDMR comments on rules on coastal drilling leases
Mississippi marine resources agency officials said the rules and regulations that the Mississippi Development Authority adopted this year regarding seismic testing in Mississippi waters do not conflict with its own process for managing coastal resources.
BP emails reveal company knew rig could blow
NEW ORLEANS — On the day the Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials warned in an internal email conversation that if the well was not protected by the blow-out preventer at the drill site, crude oil could burst into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 3.4 million gallons a day, an amount a million gallons higher than what the U.S. government ultimately estimated spilled daily from the site.
Ex-BP worker files whistleblower suit over cleanup
NEW ORLEANS — A former BP employee has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company, claiming he was fired for airing concerns about the cleanup of Mississippi’s shoreline after the Gulf oil spill.
Officials have meeting on Gulf restoration plans
GAUTIER — Federal and state officials have presented plans to hold BP to its promise to make the Gulf whole in the wake of the 2010 oil-spill disaster.
Only 1 shows to comment on offshore lease sales
JEFFERSON, La. — Only a petroleum industry representative showed up at a public hearing on proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico.
New NOAA study mirrors spill rate from BP well
NEW ORLEANS — Federal scientists say a new chemistry-based analysis of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico closely matches official estimates released at the time of the spill.
Amid BCS mania, BP pushes a feel-good Gulf story
NEW ORLEANS — Nearly 20 months after its massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill — and just as the nation focuses on New Orleans, host of the BCS title game — BP is pushing a slick nationwide public relations campaign to persuade Americans that the Gulf region has recovered.
Nomination for Katrina breach sites sparks debate
NEW ORLEANS — A push to place levee breach sites from Hurricane Katrina on the National Register of Historic Places is cause for consternation at the federal agency that built the floodwalls that failed during the 2005 storm.
BP oil spill payments to resume after fee wrinkle
NEW ORLEANS — Payments to those damaged by BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico resumed Wednesday, a day after administrators of the $20 billion fund stopped the flow of money, saying they were unclear on how to assess a 6 percent fee for lawyers handling claims.
BP says it is entitled to payment from Halliburton
NEW ORLEANS — BP is reiterating claims first made last April that it is entitled to payment from contractor Halliburton Energy Services for expenses and lost profits resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil well disaster.
BP money buys sports towels, Christmas lights, jingles
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — Sports towels and fleece blankets. A poker tournament. A $1 million Christmas display. A prom for senior citizens. BP gas card giveaways. A “most deserving mom” contest. And advertising, lots of advertising.
BP settles with maker of failed blowout preventer
NEW ORLEANS — Cameron International, the maker of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer that failed to stop last year’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has agreed to pay $250 million to BP in a legal settlement, BP said Friday.
Engineering experts hit safety culture in BP spill
WASHINGTON — BP and the oil industry drilling in the Gulf of Mexico lacked the proper safety attitude to handle the large risks of deep-water drilling, leading to the many bad decisions behind the nation’s worst offshore spill, a panel of expert engineers said Wednesday.