Politicians usually don’t stick their necks out on the nuts-and-bolts technology of a given industry, particularly offshore oil and gas drilling. Not so for former Houston Mayor-turned-Texas-gubernatorial candidate Bill White. White put out his own analysis of the Deepwater Horizon accident, mainly in reaction to comments from Texas Gov. Rick Perry who described the incident [...]  More »

Here’s the latest on the Gulf oil spill cleanup by the numbers: Total vessels (including tugs and skimmers): 196 Boom deployed: 486,940 feet Boom available: 668,081 feet Oil and water mix recovered: 23,968 gallons Dispersant Used : 156,012 gallons Dispersant available: 230,000 gallons Remotely Operated Vehicles: 10 Overall personnel responding: 7,484 BP says it also [...]  More »

A bit of tension is being scheduled for Thursday morning when the Sierra Club, Galveston Baykeeper and other Texas groups plan to hold a press conference calling for a moratorium on offshore drilling from outside the Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Park. The 10 a.m. event is aimed at reminding people that the tragedy is [...]  More »

BP has been taking a beating on the financial and public image front since the Deepwater Horizon accident turned into a major oil leak, footing some $6 million per day in clean-up costs. It wasn’t their rig that sank, but they’re the leaseholder so they’re on the hook. Hardly mentioned so far been Anadarko’s 25 [...]  More »

• BP trying to stem oil flow through five different techniques. • Rig accident cause, not effect, the talk of OTC this year. • Other takes on OTC and the accident from the NYT and the W$J, Bloomberg • Schwarzenegger drops offshore drilling support in wake of rig accident. • Feds keep up pressure on [...]  More »

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There’s a saying in Houston media circles that the most dangerous place to be is between a particular local member of Congress and a camera (i.e. this person is a publicity hound). It seems every other legislator around the country is trying hard for that same reputation, announcing to anyone and everyone demands for investigations [...]  More »

AP Workers place oil-containment boom around in the central marshes in St. Bernard Parish, La. Monday, May 3, 2010. Federal representatives, industry officials and others involved in the joint response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico gave an update to reporters this afternoon. Here are some highlights: Workers today are slated to [...]  More »

Sharon Hong/Chronicle An OTC attendee gets his shoes shined on Monday, the first day off the massive trade show at Reliant Center. Attendees at the Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Center are doing a lot of walking. Exhibit booths span the entire building — 550,000 square feet of exhibition space — and the walk to [...]  More »

Nick de la Torre/Chronicle Offshore Technology Conference attendees fill out paperwork to gain admittance to visit with more than 2,000 companies Monday, May 3, 2010, at Reliant Center. With more than 550,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Offshore Technology Conference is the place to see and be seen when it comes to the oil [...]  More »

Dozens of federal agencies and divisions are involved in the massive cleanup and containment operation in the Gulf of Mexico or working to investigate the initial causes of the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig. But federal and state lawmakers are getting into the action, too. California state assembly members studied the issue</strong [...]  More »

Wall Street may be being too harsh on BP, Transocean and other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon accident that is leaking thousands gallons of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico, a recent Barrons article said. The market values of the companies involved have dropped by more than $40 billion since the spill, [...]  More »