New Containment Cap Reaches Oil Well

Affected companies oppose 6-month moratorium

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration may not impose a 6-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled today. The White House immediately said it plans to appeal the decision, CNN reports . The Interior Department imposed the ban in the wake of the BP oil spill, and companies affected by the ban argued that the government hadn't proven rigs that are already operating are potentially dangerous. Today, the judge agreed. More»

Well was fraught with problems going back to June 2009

(NEWSER) - Most of us just woke up one April day to the news that an oil rig had exploded in the Gulf, but BP knew of safety concerns at least 10 months before that, according to documents obtained by the New York Times. The highlights:

• In June 2009, BP engineers worried that the casing the company wanted, for which it had to obtain special permission, might collapse under high pressure in "a worst-case scenario."

Scope of disaster could be epic

(AP) - President Obama headed for the Gulf Coast today, where all eyes are focused on the massive oil slick threatening to swallow the environment and economy of American shores from Louisiana to Florida. With tourist beaches, fragile marshes, marine life, and lush fishing grounds at stake, experts tried in vain to gauge the scope of the disaster; the Coast Guard conceded it had no idea how many gallons had leaked, even as the surface slick appeared to triple in size over the past two days. More»

But BP's paying for it, White House says

(NEWSER) - The federal moratorium on deepwater drilling isn't helping unemployment, with some 23,000 workers out of work as a result if the ban holds for six months. A July 10 White House memo showed that the ban would idle 9,450 people directly, and another 14,000 indirectly, reports the AP. More»

Deepwater Horizon also had previously shutdown problems

(NEWSER) - As deadly pockets of oil and gas raced up the Deepwater Horizon's pipes on April 20, a key emergency alarm sat intentionally disabled and silent —giving workers no warning of the impending disaster until the oil rig blew sky high, according to testimony by an engineer. When he discovered the alarm's "inhibited" status a year earlier, managers told him they "did not want people woke up at three o'clock in the morning from false alarms," Mike Williams told a federal review board yesterday. More»