A water-heating system may have leaked natural gas into a tunnel beneath the Pemex headquarters, adding fresh detail to the narrative of the petroleum giant’s fatal explosion.  More »

An explosion at oil storage site in East Texas has prompted the federal Chemical Safety Board to urge the Texas Railroad Commission to adopt stricter rules governing security. A similar request last year was ignored.  More »

Rescuers searched the rubble for survivors and authorities promised a thorough investigation after an office building blast killed 25 people and injured 101 at the headquarters of Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos.  More »

Fines amounting to $8 billion sought by Nigeria from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) for oil spills are not backed by law, said Bukola Saraki, chairman of the country’s Senate Committee on Environment.  More »

Chevron Corp. has paid about $10 million and has begun what’s being termed “corrective actions” after a fire last summer at its Richmond refinery, company officials said.  More »

Two people are reported hurt in a fire at an oil storage facility in East Texas as firefighters work to prevent the blaze from spreading.  More »

Cleanup crews with booms skimmed oily water from the Mississippi River Monday, a day after a barge with more than 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge near Vicksburg.  More »

A barge carrying 80,000 gallons of oil hit a railroad bridge in Vicksburg, Miss., on Sunday, spilling light crude into the Mississippi River and closing the waterway for eight miles in each direction, the Coast Guard said. A second barge was damaged.  More »

San Francisco — The California commission that polices bar pilots who navigate ships through San Francisco Bay has gone nearly a year without acting on an extraordinary complaint against a captain lodged after his loaded oil tanker nearly ran aground off Richmond – an incident that could have caused an environmental disaster.  More »

Arctic drilling can be done safely, as long as the oil industry takes a balanced approach and works with local stakeholders and federal regulators, said Tom Hunter, the chairman of the federal Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee established after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.  More »

High-profile mishaps are spurring some in the oil industry to re-evaluate whether the crude on top of the world is worth the logistical challenges, financial costs and environmental risks of getting to it.  More »

A fire that broke out at a Kinder Morgan facility in Pasadena early Tuesday kept firefighters busy, but no injuries were reported.  More »