Obama administration officials today outlined their plans for new regulations designed to boost the reliability of crucial emergency equipment safeguarding offshore wells. Fundamentally, said Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, blowout preventers “need to be able to cut whatever is in their way and completely sell off the well.”  More »

Federal regulators crafting new regulations to boost the reliability and power of emergency equipment used as a last line of defense against surging oil and gas at offshore wells will get feedback from energy companies, drilling engineers and other experts on Tuesday.  More »

Recent estimates from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) show that emissions of air pollutants that harm human health in the Houston region are falling dramatically.  More »

The White House is threatening to veto a defense spending bill after complaining the measure would limit the military’s ability to power its planes, ships and tanks with alternative fuels.  More »

Automakers and the oil industry released a report today that casts doubt on the safety of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol and shows that at least some engines running the fuel suffered damage during recent testing.  More »

The White House on Tuesday pushed back against the oil and gas industry’s claims that the Obama administration is blocking domestic energy development, releasing a new analysis showing that 46 million acres of federal lands and waters leased for drilling are sitting idle.  More »

As the OTC gets underway to record numbers here in Houston, one oft repeated phrase from industry and government is that safety should come first. James Watson, head of BSEE, also announced that the government plans to speed up its rulemaking on safety requirements by skipping the “notice of proposed rulemaking” stage and going straight [...]  More »

Federal regulators are vetting Shell’s plans to drill 10 wells in Arctic waters near Alaska ahead of planned testing of oil spill response equipment later this year. Shell still has to convince regulators that it can contain oil and gas in case of a blown out well in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.  More »

The nation’s top offshore drilling regulator today laid out an ambitious agenda for his agency, including plans to issue new mandates for emergency equipment and update decades-old regulations governing oil and gas production safety systems.  More »

Brazil’s regulations are more stringent than those in the U.S., yet the country remains one of the hottest prospects for new drilling.  More »

For months, the Obama administration has been preparing to unveil new regulations governing hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the mandates are still being refined. American Indian tribes also complain they weren’t adequately consulted over the planned rule.  More »

The recent announcement of the discovery of oil off the coast of Liberia has spurred widespread public interest and international engagement. Re-elected for her second term in January 2012, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first female president in Africa and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Much is at stake for [...]  More »