Two federal agencies are laying the foundation for wind turbines in the Gulf of Mexico, by launching a study of the effects seismic research poses on whales and fish in the region.  More »

When Interior Secretary Sally Jewell worked in the oil patch three decades ago, she was a pioneer who put up with a nearly all-male work force and Hustler pin-ups at drill sites. While overt sexism may have left the oilfield in the 32 years since, there still aren’t a lot of women in it. Ditto for people of color. “The industry has some work to do,” Jewell said.  More »

The nation’s top offshore drilling regulators will visit the Offshore Technology Conference on Wednesday to tour the massive exhibit floor where more than 2,000 companies have their wares on display. The newly sworn-in interior secretary, Sally Jewell, will make an appearance, alongside Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement director James Watson and Tommy Beaudreau, the head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.  More »

For years, offshore drilling foes have filed lawsuits challenging oil and gas development in areas around Alaska, but now that litigation is moving to new territories, potentially threatening activity in the Gulf of Mexico, a former regulator told the Offshore Technology Conference on Tuesday.  More »

Oil and gas companies will have a chance to buy drilling rights on more than 21 million acres in the western Gulf of Mexico during a lease sale in August.  More »

Nearly 140,000 whales and dolphins could be injured if the Obama administration allows energy companies to conduct seismic research aimed at identifying oil and gas along the Atlantic Coast, according to a new report issued Tuesday.  More »

ConocoPhillips on Wednesday said it would abandon its plans to begin drilling for oil in Arctic waters north of Alaska because of “uncertainties of evolving federal regulatory requirements” for oil exploration in the region. The move follows similar decisions by Statoil and Shell, which is pausing its own Arctic oil hunt after experiencing several high-profile mishaps last year.  More »

Federal regulators have focused scrutiny on Shell’s Arctic drilling program, but top Obama administration officials say ConocoPhillips and other companies planning to search for oil in the same area better be paying attention.  More »

Embattled British oil giant BP, one of the largest leaseholder in the Gulf of Mexico, skipped Wednesday’s high-stakes lease sale, amid ongoing legal troubles and disputes with federal regulators over the fallout from the 2010 oil spill.  More »

The Obama administration on Thursday released the findings of a high-level probe of Shell’s problem-plagued 2012 Arctic drilling season that could dictate what energy companies must do to safeguard future oil exploration in the region.  More »

Northeast lawmakers are asking the Obama administration to abandon a plan to allow energy companies to conduct seismic research to identify hidden pockets of potential oil and gas along the Atlantic Coast. The Interior Department is on track to make a decision about allowing those seismic surveys as early as March.  More »

The federal government has opened a probe into the grounding of Shell’s Arctic drilling rig Kulluk, and investigation that could set back the company’s multibillion-dollar effort to explore in Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas.  More »