Engineers and energy companies are rolling out sensors and software designed to give drillers above the water line and those onshore a better view of what is happening on the sea floor.  More »

On the heels of promising research earlier this year, the Energy Department plans to spend $6.5 million to research methods for releasing methane locked in ice crystals in Alaska.  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 »

Here’s some of the things I’ll be looking for at this years annual gala of oilfield geek chic.  More »

Safety and prevention will be the dominant themes this week, winding their way from the hardware displays to the breakfast meetings and the after-hours parties.  More »

Reports that the French gunman responsible for this week’s heinous terrorist crime was wearing a video camera raise disturbing new questions about the future of ongoing symbiotic links between terrorism and media. In her play Our House, the playwright Theresa Rebeck (creator of the new hit show Smash) offers a bold and possibly insightful explanation [...]  More »

Yesterday, I tried to register for CERAWeek, the annual oil industry confab next month. The computer, of course, asked me to create a password. I entered an easy one that I could remember. It wasn’t a great password, I’ll admit, but this is a conference registration, not an application for Pentagon clearance. Not good enough. [...]  More »

Energy Ventures, a nine-year-old firm, opened Houston offices in 2007 and is backing local start-ups that want to revolutionize oil field production.  More »

Members of alternative-energy industries pressed senators on Wednesday not to let their tax credits expire and instead implement a multi-year extension, fearing their industries would suffer and future rollouts in cleaner energy would slow.  More »

Two future emissions rules for power plants would encourage electric utilities to spend cash they’ve held onto during the sluggish economic recovery, creating jobs and increasing business for the power sector’s supply-chain companies, a group said in a report. The group also has challenged claims by Texans and others that the two EPA rules would cost jobs.  More »

Public support for putting federal money toward research on certain renewable energy sources has fallen significantly since early 2009, with virtually all the decline coming from Republicans, a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll found.  More »

Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., told lawmakers in a letter last week that his bill to repeal all tax credits for energy production and investment would save the U.S. government up to $90 billion over 10 years in what he says is spending that distorts the market.  More »