Gulf Blaze Rattles Oil Industry

Company had 'best year in safety performance'

(NEWSER) - That minor explosion that killed 11 people and dumped 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico aside, it seems Transocean had a banner year in terms of safety. And to celebrate the "best year in safety performance in our company's history"—despite noting the "tragic loss of life" of nine of its own employees—Transocean is sliding its top executives two-thirds of their safety bonus, reports the AP. The safety bonus accounts for a quarter of executives' total possible bonus; the total bonus for CEO Steve Newman last year was $374,062. More»

One person injured; no oil leaks seen

(AP) - An offshore oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast today, but this one appears headed toward a better ending than BP's explosion. All 13 people aboard have been rescued—though one is reportedly injured. Earlier reports that the platform was inactive have proved to be inaccurate, but workers may have been able to shut down active wells after the explosion. More»

Feds revise deepwater drilling ban

(NEWSER) - A new containment cap has just moved into position atop the ruptured oil well beneath the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and officials are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the new equipment, MSNBC reports. "Until we have the cap on, securely fitted in place, and know it's operating per the design, we have to recognize this is a complex operation," BP's COO said today, the 83rd day since the explosion that set off the worst environmental disaster in American history. More»

Feds taking advantage of slow legal pace

(NEWSER) - Three federal judges will hear the government's plea tomorrow to keep a moratorium on deepwater drilling in place while the case winds its way through the courts. The Obama administration wants to impose the 6-month moratorium in the wake of the BP disaster, but a lower court has deemed that to be too far-reaching. The government yesterday filed its appeal, reports the New York Times . 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."