Bryant to mull medicinal marijuana oil
Mississippi lawmakers are sending Gov. Phil Bryant a bill that would legalize a marijuana oil to be used as medicine under tightly controlled circumstances.
‘Significant’ oil spill closes Texas channel
No timetable has been set to reopen a major U.S. shipping channel after nearly 170,000 gallons of tar-like oil spilled into the Texas waterway, but more help was being called in Monday to contain the spill and protect important shorebird habitat.
25 years later, Exxon Valdez spill effects linger
Before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, there was the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, at the time the nation’s largest oil spill.
Leaders promote using carbon dioxide in oil output
Gov. Phil Bryant and others are extolling Mississippi as a national leader in using carbon dioxide to extract more oil from old oil fields.
Shale brings high hopes in Mississippi
Residents living above an oil-rich shale formation that stretches across southwest Mississippi and Louisiana have been waiting on a boom for years. A steady trickle of drilling is already boosting the rural region’s economy, and spending by two oil companies could make 2014 the year that many other locals finally cash in on the oil far beneath their feet.
Report: Keystone contractor followed federal rules
A consulting firm that helped write an environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline complied with federal rules regarding possible conflict of interest, the State Department’s inspector general said Wednesday in a report that buoyed supporters of the controversial pipeline and disappointed critics.
Medical marijuana gains traction in the South
Medical marijuana has been a non-starter in recent years in the Deep South, where many Republican lawmakers feared it could lead to widespread drug use and social ills. That now appears to be changing, with proposals to allow a form of medical marijuana gaining momentum in a handful of Southern states.
Kemper costs rise $40 million on start-up reserve
JACKSON — The Southern Co. says it may cost another $40 million to finish the $5 billion-plus power plant and mine it’s building in eastern
Some states confirm water pollution from drilling
In at least four states that have nurtured the nation’s energy boom, hundreds of complaints have been made about well-water contamination from oil or gas drilling, and pollution was confirmed in a number of them, according to a review that casts doubt on industry suggestions that such problems rarely happen.
Nations jockey for Arctic position, U.S. not in lead
The U.S. is racing to keep pace with stepped-up activity in the once sleepy Arctic frontier, but it is far from being in the lead.
To clean up coal, Obama pushes more oil production
America’s newest, most expensive coal-fired power plant is hailed as one of the cleanest on the planet, thanks to government-backed technology that removes carbon dioxide and keeps it out of the atmosphere.
But once the carbon is stripped away, it will be used to do something that is not so green at all.
It will extract oil.
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.
U.S. eyes increase in Arctic operations
The U.S. military is looking for ways to expand operations in the vast waters of the Arctic as melting ice caps open sea lanes and other nations such as Russia compete for the lucrative oil and gas deposits.
Next generation biofuels still years away
NEW YORK — The first trickle of fuels made from agricultural waste is finally winding its way into the nation’s energy supply, after years of
More fracking operations turn to waste water recycling
MIDLAND, Texas — When the rain stopped falling in Texas, the prairie grass yellowed, the soil cracked and oil drillers were confronted with a crisis.
New safety inspection blitz of oil shipments launched
WASHINGTON — Federal inspection teams have been conducting spot safety checks of rail shipments of crude oil from the booming Bakken oil region in Great
Fracking study links drilling, air pollution
PITTSBURGH — A project examining the local health impacts from natural gas drilling is providing some of the first preliminary numbers about people who may
Despite boom, higher costs push Big Oil into slump
NEW YORK — New troves of oil have been found all over the globe, and oil companies are taking in around $100 for every barrel
Federal agency to probe blown Gulf well
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — Scientists from several universities are working to learn whether a gas well that blew wild last week off the
Industry fights safety retrofit of older rail cars
The oil industry and U.S railroads are resisting the Obama administration’s attempt to boost safety standards for the type of rail car involved in a fiery, fatal explosion in Canada, citing costs and technical challenges.