The government has now granted some of the workers amnesty and designated them as victims of human trafficking.  More »

Facing mounting legal actions, the founder of embattled Black Elk Energy said the results of a government investigation in the coming months will clear the company’s name and beat back criticism about its operations.  More »

Black Elk Energy has turned over documents to federal regulators and investigators probing last month’s fatal blaze at one of the firm’s offshore production platforms. The contractor that was working at the site has rebuffed similar requests for information.  More »

Federal offshore drilling regulators on Wednesday advanced a policy statement meant to prod oil and gas companies to adopt a “safety culture” following lethal accidents in the Gulf of Mexico. The move comes as regulators draw scrutiny for not conducting audits of newly mandated safety programs and weeks after a fatal fire on a production platform 18 miles from Louisiana’s coast.  More »

James Watson took the reins at the agency that oversees offshore energy development just over a year ago. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Watson outlines his enforcement philosophy, discusses a risk-based approach to policing the industry and highlights bureau training programs.  More »

Black Elk Energy is conducting an internal investigation into what caused an explosion on one of its Gulf of Mexico oil platforms last month, killing three workers and injuring others.  More »

Searching for details of U.S. offshore safety incidents is more challenging that searching for drops of oil in the vast ocean. They aren’t readily available.  More »

It would be easy to blame accidents like the recent one on a Black Elk Energy platform on workers, but it also raises questions of whether, with the advance of technology, there’s a better way to reduce the risk of such fatal accidents.  More »

Leading House Democrats are broadening their probe into what caused a fatal offshore production platform fire by scrutinizing the contractor working on the facility when it ignited last month.  More »

The Black Elk Energy accident shows the post-Deepwater Horizon safety culture in the Gulf is looking disturbingly similar to the pre-Deepwater Horizon safety culture in the Gulf.  More »

Before last week’s fatal fire at one of Black Elk Energy’s oil production platforms, the five-year-old firm had racked up more than 300 documented mistakes and violations offshore, according to federal regulators who cracked down on the Houston-based company Wednesday.  More »

Federal investigators today issued a broad subpoena to Black Elk Energy in connection with the lethal fire Friday on one of the company’s oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.  More »