Regency Energy Partners LP announced today that Energy Transfer Equity will be acquiring its general partner interest from an affiliate of GE Energy Financial Services for approximately $300 million. Regency is a midstream energy partnership involved in gathering, processing, marketing and transporting natural gas and natural gas liquids. Energy Transfer Equity is a publicly traded [...]  More »

Senators today promised an aggressive investigation of the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 people and triggered a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as they launched the first of a series of hearings on the disaster. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. predicted that the “examination of what happened [...]  More »

The captain of a commercial supply boat working alongside the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the April 20 explosion at the drilling rig provided details of the event and his crew’s rescue efforts in a hearing Monday. Alwin Landry, master of a Tidewater Marine vessel called the Damon B. Bankston, said his ship was [...]  More »

Senators investigating the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico today rapped corporate executives for trying to shift blame over the cause of the disaster. AP From left to right, BP’s Lamar McKay, Transocean’s Steven Newman and Halliburton’s Tim Probert testify before the [...]  More »

The Environmental Protection Agency is still looking into concerns over air pollution related to natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale, EPA Regional administrator Dr. Al Armendariz told the town of Dish Monday night. Armendariz spoke at Dish’s town meeting to update attendees on what the EPA is doing to address air emissions in the [...]  More »

The Coast Guard and the U.S. Minerals Management Service this morning officially launched an investigation into the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster last month with two days of public hearings in New Orleans. Witnesses from both agencies, as well as commercial mariners who assisted in the initial rescue, were scheduled to testify on “the factors [...]  More »

Despite an out-of-control gusher leaking thousands of gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, cargo activity at the Port of New Orleans has not been disrupted, Dow Jones reported. Ocean freighters entering the Southwest Pass haven’t required cleaning, even though some of the vessels have traveled through some of the sheen, a [...]  More »

Businesses that will be affected by the outcome of the Senate climate and energy bill set to be unveiled this week ramped up lobby spending early this year to have a hand in shaping legislation, ClimateWire reported. Lobby spending in the energy sector increased 25 percent in the first quarter of 2010, ClimateWire said. All [...]  More »

Marathon Oil announced Monday that it drilled a discovery well on the Flying Dutchman prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. The Flying Dutchman well, located on Green Canyon Block 511, is located about 100 miles south of New Orleans and was drilled in about 3,700 feet of water to a depth of 30,000 feet, the [...]  More »

Today kicks off the start of a number of hearings in regard to the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers and left a leaking well at the bottom of the ocean. The Chronicle’s Washington reporter Jennifer Dlouhy outlined all the planned Congressional hearings for us yesterday.  More »

• BP will try to use golf balls, knots of rope and other junk to begin sealing blown out well in the Gulf. • “Top hat” containment dome still an option. • Canadian oil sands could benefit from Deepwater Horizon disaster. • BP asks judges to combine all oil spill lawsuits, hear them in Houston [...]  More »

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