MOEX Offshore, an affiliate of the Japanese firm Mitsui & Co., which owned a 10 percent non-operating interest in the Macondo well, said BP is seeking reimbursement of more than $2 billion related to last year’s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  More »

Legend says that the Greek goddess Aphrodite, a symbol of love and beauty, rose from the sea near a rock outcropping off the southern coast of the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. Soon, Loren Steffy writes, the myth may be joined by a symbol of economic reality — offshore drilling rigs.  More »

I went to the Cyprus breakfast at the Offshore Technology Conference out of personal curiosity. I lived on the island for a while as a child, and I’ve been intrigued by the implications that Noble Energy’s offshore discovery in Israel might have for Cyprus. Just as the Isaraeli discoveries may transform that country from an [...]  More »

After being persona non grata during the oil spill in the Gulf, BP America Chairman Lamar McKay was greeted with widespread applause at OTC this year, where Loren Steffy writes that the BP exec tried to strike a tone that said “we’re all in this together.”  More »

Bruce Williamson, whose severance pay at Houston-based Dynegy became a roadblock to a private equity buyout, has landed a new job as chief executive of Cleco Corp., a power company based in Pineville, La., Loren Steffy writes.  More »

McCormick & Schmick’s, the Portland, Ore.-based seafood chain that’s had Houston restaurateur Tilman Fertitta salivating for the past month, is now officially for sale. In releasing its first-quarter earnings today, the company also said its board “has determined to engage in a sale process as well as a broad evaluation of the company’s other strategic [...]  More »

The Obama administration’s response to the Deepwater Horizon accident has set U.S. energy development back years and has needlessly cost jobs in the offshore industry, said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute. “We believe the moratorium was an overreaction,” he told the  Chronicle’s editorial board this morning. “You didn’t need to put everybody [...]  More »

The death of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is being cheered in the markets. European stocks rose to a two-month high and U.S. futures indexes indicated a boost for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index as well. The dollar inched upward and oil prices dipped. Commodities, particularly precious metals, fell. It’s likely to be a [...]  More »

Rising gasoline prices are tied to rising crude oil prices, of course, but this time there’s a disturbing difference, Loren Steffy writes. Gasoline prices are rising much more rapidly than in the past, but while drivers may grumble at the higher prices, Americans aren’t changing their driving habits.  More »

Come Monday, you’ll probably notice a new look around the ol’ blog. Over the weekend, the technology gnomes at Chron.com are moving the blogs to new system running WordPress. This shouldn’t have an impact on the content or your ability to leave comments, although I think you’ll like the way replies will now be linked [...]  More »

Once described by Warren Buffett himself as “Woodstock for capitalists,” this year’s annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders begins this weekend under the cloud of scandal. AP This year, chill at Berkshire’s meeting won’t be coming from Dairy Queen’s tasty treats Last month, Berkshire, which owns Houston-based Star Furniture among many other companies, announced that [...]  More »

Earlier this week, NPR’s Planet Money wanted to do a piece on the latest monthly home price data using the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The index is useful because, as NPR notes, you can see the boom-bust cycle of the U.S. housing market in one simple graph. That, however, doesn’t do much good on radio. [...]  More »