13 Workers Rescued From Oil Platform Blast

Feinberg offering $5K to individuals who agree not to sue

(USER SUBMITTED) - The administrator of BP's $20 billion compensation fund is offering Gulf residents cash bonuses to speed up the process, reports the New York Times. But there's a catch: Anyone who takes the money ($5,000 for individuals, $25,000 for businesses) has to agree not to sue BP or any other company involved in the disaster. More»

Crews won't know until today if they're able to stop the leak

(NEWSER) - The oil spilling from a sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico has grown to more than 1,800 square miles—an area larger than Rhode Island—but crews using a robot sub have yet to be able to stop the two leaks, which sit 5,000 feet below the surface. If they can't do so quickly, they might need to drill another well to redirect the oil. That process could take about two months—but the oil could reach the white-sand beaches of Florida's Panhandle and the swamps of Louisiana in as little as three days, reports the AP . More»

Latest accident adds to calls for more regulation

(NEWSER) - The latest fire on an oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday may not have spilled more oil into the Gulf , but it has further polluted the industry's image. The accident is going to make it harder for the industry to argue that the Deepwater Horizon disaster was a fluke as it fights tighter regulation and a moratorium on deep-water drilling, energy experts tell the Wall Street Journal . 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."

Homeland Security, Interior secretaries tour oil spill area

(NEWSER) - BP is not doing enough to remedy the effects of the oil spill created when one of its offshore drilling facilities exploded, and the federal government plans to pressure the company to fund and complete the cleanup of the crude-choked Gulf of Mexico. "We cannot rest and will not rest until BP permanently secures the well head and cleans up every drop of oil," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today after taking an aerial tour of the affected area with Janet Napolitano. More»