The Obama administration proposed more oil drilling in Arctic waters Tuesday, planning two new leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska's north coast.
The Senate rejected a Republican measure Wednesday to expand offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters, signaling a continued partisan stalemate over energy policy and, more specifically, how to respond to rising gas prices.
The political playbook on gas prices hasn't changed much over the years. Dana Bash takes a look.
When gas prices started spiking again this month, President Barack Obama turned to a move that worked in the past: Make noise and talk tough about price gouging, then direct his attorney general to launch an investigation.
A daughter will walk down the aisle this year without her father. A rig survivor still awakens at night and screams. A native American tribe in Louisiana now eats pork, chicken and beans instead of oysters and crab.
Live underwater video or 'spillcam' changed how Americans viewed the BP oil spill. One year later, now what?
As they furiously typed computer code through the night in a small Capitol Hill office, little did they know they were about to change the way Americans would view what has become known as the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Oil drilling is returning to the Gulf of Mexico, but slowly.
The owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded last year, killing 11 workers and leading to what has been called the worst oil spill ever, said Monday that calling 2010 its "best year" in safety "may have been insensitive."
Declaring 2010 "the best year in safety performance in our company's history," Transocean Ltd., owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded, killing 11 workers, has awarded its top executives hefty bonuses and raises, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
President Obama has had some pretty lousy luck with his energy plans.
The Exxon Valdez catastrophe on March 24, 1989, no longer holds the distinction of being the largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters. In sheer size, it was eclipsed last April by the disastrous well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. But as the Pew Environment Group's video, "Lingering Oil," shows, the lessons of the Exxon Valdez spill are more vital than ever as we approach the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and contemplate drilling in the even more challenging Arctic Ocean.
The oil spill at BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by a piece of drill pipe trapped in the platform's blowout preventer, which kept the device from working properly to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf, according to a report issued Wednesday.
The moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill ended back in October of 2010. Since then, the two companies, Ensco and Hornbeck (HOS),that sued the government, fearful of the damage the moratorium could do to their businesses, are poised to recover.
Several House Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that would impose stricter federal controls and oversight on oil companies and owners and operators of offshore oil rigs along the U.S. coastline.
Interior Department officials announced an extensive restructuring of the agencies that oversee offshore oil drilling Wednesday, pledging "fundamental change" for a system widely criticized after the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
The final report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster concludes it "was foreseeable and preventable."
Four weeks after the catastrophic blowout that killed 11 workers and gushed millions of barrels of toxic crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico last spring, President Obama set up an independent commission to determine what went wrong and what we must do to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
If the government does not take drastic steps, another deepwater oil spill like the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico could devastate the coastal areas of the United States, an oversight commission warned Tuesday in a long-awaited report to the president.
Frustrated Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser yells at a Coast Guard commander.
More than eight months after an oil rig explosion launched the biggest oil disaster in U.S. history, Louisiana officials say they're still finding thick layers of oil along parts of the state's coastline.
President Barack Obama's commission investigating last year's oil disaster is giving environmental groups hope that some change is on the horizon, but not the full scope of what they're looking for, two groups told CNN Thursday.
"Systemic" problems caused the Deepwater Horizon blowout and subsequent oil spill and only "significant reform" will prevent another, President Barack Obama's commission studying the disaster says in its soon-to-be-released report.
The American Petroleum Institute has a message to Congress as it starts work Wednesday: Open more areas for drilling and we will create more jobs for the American people.
The Obama administration formally reversed course on its plan to allow more U.S. oil drilling Wednesday, saying areas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic Coast will remain closed for at least seven years due to the BP oil spill.
The Obama administration didn't violate federal law when it incorrectly asserted that its plans for a six-month halt to offshore oil drilling had been "peer reviewed" by experts, an independent watchdog agency reported Wednesday.
CNN's Rob Marciano looks at the stubborn oil still being fought in the Gulf six months after the spill.
It was May when a fishing boat carrying Ed Overton and other scientists pulled away from what would become the largest accidental oil spill in history. The ocean was soupy and brown. The air tasted like gas. Some reporters looked green in the face. The oil stretched nearly from horizon to horizon.
With the end of the deepwater drilling moratorium, it seems that fears of massive job losses among drill workers may have been overblown.
The Obama administration is lifting the moratorium on deep-water oil drilling -- put in place after the Gulf oil spill disaster -- for operators who comply with tough new rules and regulations, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday.
CNN's Dan Lothian reports on the Obama administration's move to lift the deepwater oil drilling moratorium.
Greenpeace activists who prevented a Chevron oil drilling ship from moving to a drill site this week agreed Friday to end their protest after the oil company sought a court order against the demonstration.
It's never a good time for an oil rig to blow up in the Gulf of Mexico, but Mariner Energy's Vermillion 380 platform couldn't have gone off at a worse time. The government and the media were already scrutinizing offshore drill production in an unprecedented way. Thirteen unlucky workers were ejected off of Vermillion into the water last week. And Mariner inadvertently became the latest part of a national political debate about the safety of offshore drilling.
Gov. Bobby Jindal says the rescued workers are without serious injuries and some are in the process of being discharged.
A fire on a well connected to an oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico is out and there is no indication of an oil sheen, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a motion by the Obama administration to dismiss a lawsuit that aims to block a government-imposed moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
The work to permanently seal BP's ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico will have to wait about four days after Tropical Depression Five passes the site, the government's point man in the Gulf said Wednesday.
The head of the government agency that regulates offshore drilling said Tuesday that it is "unlikely" a six-month moratorium on the practice will be extended.
CNN's Reynolds Wolf reports on the condition of the Gulf Coast now that the gushing underwater oil well has been sealed.
The worst oil spill in U.S. history has heated up the debate about how to feed the nation with cleaner, safer energy.
Booming efforts to shield land from the oil spill aren't working. CNN's Sandra Endo explores areas around Grand Isle.
Yesterday, Democrats in the Senate rejected taking up a new oil spill response bill because of a dispute over who foots the costs of future spill cleanups and more importantly, how much those parties -- largely oil and exploration companies -- will pay. The Senate is voting on the bill, vaguely titled "a bill to promote clean energy jobs and oil accountability, and for other purposes" in response to BP's spill in the Gulf at the Macondo well.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shelved plans to vote Wednesday on a slimmed-down energy bill that Democrats had hoped to pass before the August recess.
The government was supposed to keep an eye on offshore oil drilling, it was supposed to make sure nothing went wrong.
The National Oil Commission, just beginning its investigation into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, faces a daunting task: Collect information, process it and within six-months make recommendations to President Obama.
Whether you call it a moratorium or a suspension, the government's new halt on deepwater oil drilling will cause economic harm, according to industry advocates and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
BP says it has placed a new containment cap on its crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico that's been gushing oil since an explosion and fire April 20.
A federal appeals panel on Thursday upheld a district judge's order to block the Obama administration's six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
The first relief well BP is drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could intercept the leaking Deepwater Horizon well in seven to 10 days, the man heading the federal response to the oil crisis said Thursday.
Like other oystermen in the Gulf area, Vlaho Mjehovich is now finding his once-bountiful nets full of dead oysters.
The closer you get to the sea in Louisiana, the angrier the rhetoric on the homemade signs posted by the side of the road. From, "BP, your mother nature said to clean your room," to, "Cannot fish or swim, how the hell are we supposed to feed our kids now?"
The Gulf oil disaster isn't the only time a blowout preventer failed to stop an explosion. On June 3, a natural gas well in central Pennsylvania erupted despite the fact that it too was outfitted with a blowout preventer, spewing gas 75 feet into the air for 16 hours before it was brought under control.
The offshore drilling ban imposed after the BP disaster is only supposed to hit operations in deep water -- 500 feet or more.
As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill enters its 65th day, the confirmed suicide of an Alabama fisherman served as a reminder Thursday of how the effects of the disaster can be felt from the national level to the neighborhood level.
Oil looks terrible right now. And while nobody wants to need what's gushing into the gulf, poisoning marine life and coating the coasts, our way of life depends on it. In fact, the U.S. needs the oil from the Gulf Coast and the jobs that deepwater drilling generates so badly, we can't afford to pause long enough to overhaul the regulators.
Fortune: How Hornbeck did itupdated: Thu Jun 24 2010 14:54:00
When President Obama's offshore drilling moratorium halted work off the Gulf Coast in late May, the industry spewed that Washington just doesn't get it. For every rig worker, they argued, there were three to four more jobs supporting deepwater operations -- 21,000 in all, according to Louisiana's Oil and Gas Association. How could President Obama's administration legally close 33 permitted drill sites in the Gulf of Mexico when nearly all passed inspection by the Minerals Management Service after the Deepwater Horizon's April 20 explosion?
The Obama administration says it will fight the blockage of a drilling moratorium. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday called a six-month halt on deepwater drilling "needed, appropriate and within our authorities" in announcing he will issue a new order on a moratorium just hours after a federal judge blocked such a mandate.
The federal agency responsible for overseeing the oil industry has been renamed amid a massive reform effort following the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of the Interior announced Monday.
Oil rigger-turned-country star Trace Adkins sounds off on the oil disaster and Nashville flood.
The stylist is holding up a black blazer that's easily as big as a Hefty trash bag. "What size is that?" I ask. "It's Trace-size," replies the stylist. "Everything has to be custom made for him, even his jeans."
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources questioned high-ranking officials from government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and private companies Thursday about how to best divide up the troubled Minerals and Management Service, the government agency that oversees offshore drilling, which has come under greater scrutiny since the Deepwater Horizon incident on April 20.
Could another deep water- or even shallow water- oil drilling disaster be looming ahead? Experts warn it certainly could happen again.
Could another deep water -- or even shallow water -- oil drilling disaster be looming ahead? Experts warn it certainly could happen again.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday defended the Obama administration's six-month federal moratorium on deepwater drilling, which has come under fire from critics who argue that seeking offshore oil is vital for reducing the dependence on foreign supplies.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar testifies on the increased safety measures for offshore oil drilling.
The Obama administration announced new rules on offshore drilling Tuesday, a move that the industry hopes will secure new permits for drilling operations and the thousands of jobs that depend on them.
The widows of two men killed on the Deepwater Horizon drill rig urged lawmakers Monday to allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to continue, saying the oil industry is a major source of income for families in the region.
A Republican senator from the state so far the hardest hit by the Gulf oil spill said Sunday that the environmental catastrophe was not a reason to put a stop to all domestic offshore oil drilling.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter tells CNN's Candy Crowley he wants BP to take immediate action to protect the coast.
The government ban on deep water oil drilling could stifle economic activity and lead to job losses and higher energy prices, an industry group said Friday.
An acting director was settling into the top job Saturday at the troubled Minerals Management Service, which is involved in federal oversight of offshore oil drilling.
Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum resigned Thursday as head of the Interior Department's scandal-plagued Minerals Management Service, the department's chief said. Two sources told CNN that Birnbaum had been fired.
A stern-faced President Barack Obama on Thursday announced steps to limit new oil drilling and exploration as the investigation of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues, telling the American people that he is "fully engaged" and ultimately responsible for what he called a catastrophe.
President Obama says the administration is doing everything possible to stop the Gulf oil leak.
Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum has been fired, according to two CNN sources.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reiterated Wednesday that the U.S. government is doing all it can to put an end to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and to enforce ethics requirements in the federal agency responsible for inspecting oil wells.
Federal inspectors overseeing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico accepted meals and tickets to sporting events from companies they monitored, the Interior Department's inspector general concluded in a report released Wednesday.
Seven members of the environmental group Greenpeace were arrested Monday after protesting at a private ship that the group says is scheduled to depart for Alaska this summer as part of a drilling mission.
The head of offshore drilling at an Interior Department agency criticized after the Gulf Coast oil spill is retiring a month earlier than planned, an administration official told CNN on Monday.
Not only did the virtually impossible happen -- a blowout on the Gulf of Mexico seabed a mile down -- it happened to a top-notch oil team. BP's debacle is the U.S. oil industry's most serious setback, undercutting nearly 60 years of incremental progress in offshore drilling, and it could crimp future output from ultra-deep water, the source of an increasing share of America's -- and the world's -- oil production.
Critics blast BP for not releasing video showing the extent of the Gulf Coast oil spill. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
The Obama administration, eager to show it is responding to the Gulf Coast oil spill, will announce plans Tuesday to split up an Interior Department agency that oversees offshore drilling, White House officials confirmed.
The Obama administration, eager to show it is responding to the Gulf Coast oil spill, will announce plans Tuesday to split up an Interior Department agency that oversees offshore drilling, White House officials confirmed.
Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman announced Friday that they will unveil long-planned climate change legislation Wednesday, but they'll move forward without support from a key Republican they've worked with for months.
The Obama administration took the first concrete steps Thursday to make good on its pledge to halt new offshore drilling projects, suspending the approval process for new wells off of the Virginia coast.
A month after announcing plans to expand offshore drilling, President Obama visited ground zero of the Gulf Coast oil disaster and warned that residents could be facing a "potentially unprecedented environmental disaster."
The oil disaster plaguing the Gulf of Mexico and our coastal states puts our desperate need for a new clean energy economy in stark relief. We need to move away from dirty, dangerous and deadly energy sources.
As the oil slick from the recent offshore oil rig disaster makes its way to Gulf Coast shores -- expected to devastate the precious ecosystem and hurt struggling businesses -- the seeds of political fallout for the Obama administration are beginning to sprout.
The ever-growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico may threaten more than the environment. It will make it significantly harder to open up more coastal areas for oil drilling.
While the search continued Friday for 11 missing workers from BP's sunken oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, attention turned to fears of a major oil spill.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar talks with CNN's John King about new offshore drilling plans.
Wednesday's speech from President Obama unveiling his new strategy on offshore drilling, which will keep some sensitive coastal areas open for drilling, hits close to home for me.
Several environmentalists expressed disappointment and dismay Wednesday over President Obama's decision to open key Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters to oil and gas drilling.
Sierra Club members talk to CNN's Ali Velshi about their opposition to Pres. Obama's offshore drilling plan.
President Obama's plan, announced Wednesday, to expand oil drilling off the nation's coasts has the potential to lead to a slight easing in gas prices, more jobs and more money for cash-strapped government coffers.
President Obama announces plans to open parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Virginia coastline to oil drilling.
President Obama unveiled plans Wednesday to open large swaths of U.S. coastal waters in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas drilling -- a move likely to please the energy industry but upset the administration's environmentalist supporters.
The success of a congressional effort to push through stymied climate change legislation remains far from a sure thing.
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