Exxon Discovers Huge Oil Field in the Gulf

Companies argue spill was a fluke

(NEWSER) - Lord help us if there’s another deepwater spill, because the big oil companies all have a pretty much identical response plan to BP, congressional Democrats complained today, grilling executives from Chevron, Exxon, Shell, BP, and Conoco Phillips. All the companies hired the same third party to draft their plans, the Wall Street Journal reports, and that company itself told Congress they are “cookie-cutter” documents. Ed Markey found that two of the plans “are such dead ringers for BP’s that they list a phone number for the same long-dead expert.” More»

(NEWSER) - Stocks jumped at the open today, with the Dow up 61 points, the Nasdaq adding 0.5%, and the S&P gaining 0.7%, powered by strong moves in its energy and basic materials sectors. That was due in part to the surge in fuel prices, with oil clearing $71 a barrel. Chevron and Exxon Mobil each rose 1%. Shares in industrial companies also climbed, with Caterpillar up 1.3%. If it holds, the Dow's move will put it in positive territory for the year. More»

No one asked visiting engineers about problematic test results

(NEWSER) - Experts on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig could have prevented last year’s huge oil spill—but no one checked with them, said the White House commission investigating the matter. A knowledgeable BP engineer was visiting the rig, but when a key pressure test returned odd results, workers didn’t ask him about them, Reuters reports. “If anyone had consulted him or any other shore-based engineer, the blowout might never have happened,” said the commission. More»

Cables say PM accused firm of stealing billions

(NEWSER) - Eighteen months before the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company experienced a similar huge leak in Azerbaijan, WikiLeaks cables reveal. The firm was tight-lipped about the incident, angering its partners, the cables note, adding that BP was fortunate in getting its 212 workers to safety, the Guardian reports. Two fields were closed in the incident, and output was reduced by some 500,000 barrels daily. More»

(NEWSER) - In times like these, everyone’s got problems. Exxon and Chevron? Finding safe places to stash $40 billion they stockpiled while oil prices were stratospheric last summer. “The biggest challenge we’ve had is making sure all the cash is there every morning,” Exxon’s CEO tells Bloomberg, adding of his treasurer, “I tell Don he has to count every dollar before he goes to bed.” More»