Gulf of Mexico

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Gulf Spill Gives Scientists Deja Vu

It's the 1979 Ixtoc spill all over again

(Newser) - The Deepwater Horizon rig wasn't the first to explode and spew oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists are looking back to a 1979 disaster that, they tell the Miami Herald , offers insight into the current disaster. “Everybody keeps saying the spill is unprecedented,” says one geologist. “...

Give BP a Final Chance, Then Obama Must Step In

President not only has authority, he's obligated

(Newser) - In the month-plus since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, BP has downplayed the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf, withheld information, and repeatedly failed to plug the well. The oil giant has one last shot with its "top kill," blogs Andrew Revkin for the New York ...

Frustrated Salazar: 'We'll Push BP Out of the Way'

Interior secretary talks tough during visit to oil company's HQ

(Newser) - As the Obama administration ramps up its response to the Gulf oil disaster, the interior secretary visited BP's Houston headquarters today and blasted the company for missing "deadline after deadline" in the cleanup effort. "There's no question BP is throwing everything at this problem," Ken Salazar acknowledged....

Obama Deploys Top Aides to Gulf

EPA's Jackson, Salazar, Napolitano will monitor response

(Newser) - Three top Obama administration officials are returning to the Gulf Coast to monitor the massive oil spill that seems to have no end in sight, as frustration with the response to the spill threatens to boil over. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson was headed today to Louisiana, where she...

EPA Considers Cutting All Contracts With BP

Move would cost the company billions of dollars

(Newser) - News to cheer those who say the government has gone too easy on BP: The EPA is considering scrapping its federal contracts, a move that would cost the company billions, reports Pro Publica . It's far from a done deal, and any such action would depend on the results of the...

BP Concedes 5,000-Barrel Estimate Too Low
 BP Concedes 
 5,000-Barrel 
 Estimate Too Low 
new live feed released
May 20, 2010 2:58 PM CDT

BP Concedes 5,000-Barrel Estimate Too Low

That's how much it's currently cleaning up per day

(Newser) - BP says it's now scooping up 5,000 barrels a day of gushing oil, so we must be in the clear right? After all, that's been the company's daily estimate all along. Alas, "it was always made clear that this was a ballpark estimate," said a BP official....

BP Looks for Help, Turns to ... Kevin Costner?

Actor's company has an oil-sucking machine

(Newser) - It's Kevin Costner to the rescue in the Gulf: BP has agreed to test a contraption funded by the actor to suck oil out of the water. "It's like a big vaccum cleaner," said Costner's business partner in Ocean Therapy Solutions. Costner got interested in the subject around...

US Expands No-Fishing Area in Gulf

45,728 square miles now closed

(Newser) - The US today expanded the area around the Gulf oil spill where fishing is banned. The government's oceanic authority ordered 19% of federally controlled waters off-limits for fishing, up from 8% Friday and 10% yesterday. The area closed now covers 45,728 square miles, CNN reports. Meanwhile, three separate Senate...

BP Siphoning 1/5 of Oil; Spill May Have Hit Major Current

Loop current would carry oil to Florida Keys and up coast

(Newser) - BP is now siphoning more than one-fifth of the oil that has been spewing into the Gulf for almost a month, the company said this morning, as worries escalated that the ooze may have reached a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the...

BP Pipe Siphons Some Oil, Dislodges
 BP Pipe Siphons 
 Some Oil, Dislodges 
UPDATED
May 16, 2010 12:40 PM CDT

BP Pipe Siphons Some Oil, Dislodges

Engineers trying to get pipe to work again

(Newser) - BP says engineers trying to stop an oil leak deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico used a mile-long tube to funnel some oil to the surface, but that it became dislodged. In a news release, BP says it halted the process early today, but that some of the oil and...

BP: The Tube Is In


 BP: The Tube Is In 
May 16, 2010 11:19 AM CDT

BP: The Tube Is In

Oil giant hopes to siphon large part of gushing oil

(Newser) - BP has successfully inserted a pipe into the blown-out Deepwater Horizon well, a source confirmed to the Wall Street Journal , raising hopes that a majority of the leak could be siphoned up to a ship on the surface. A BP spokesman declined comment.

BP: Pipe Will Stem Oil Flow
 BP: Pipe Will Stem Oil Flow  
May 16, 2010 6:33 AM CDT

BP: Pipe Will Stem Oil Flow

But company's still jiggering its latest experiment

(Newser) - BP hit a snag yesterday in its effort to reduce the amount of oil blasting from the remains of a broken rig into the Gulf of Mexico. BP said it was confident that its mile-long pipe would capture much of the oil flow, but engineers failed to connect two pieces...

Huge Oil Plumes Found Deep Under Water

It's more evidence that the spill is bigger than estimates

(Newser) - Scientists working in the Gulf of Mexico tell the New York Times they're seeing a "shocking amount of oil" deep under the surface. They've located several huge plumes, the largest of which is 10 miles long and 3 miles wide, lending more weight to the speculation that the spill...

White House Wants BP to Promise It'll Pay

Even if costs exceed $75 million cap

(Newser) - The White House's latest message to BP is a simple one: Talk is cheap, so you better pay up in the Gulf. Company officials have said a few times publicly that they were willing to cover all costs related to the cleanup, even if they exceed the $75 million liability...

Hey, BP: Supertankers Could Clean Up Spill

 Hey, BP: Supertankers 
 Could Clean Up Spill 
It worked for Saudis
May 15, 2010 1:15 PM CDT

Hey, BP: Supertankers Could Clean Up Spill

They suck up vast quantities of polluted water; oil is filtered out in port

(Newser) - A former Shell Oil president has some advice for BP: Use supertankers to suck up the oil fouling the Gulf of Mexico. He says the Saudis used it in a hush-hush cleanup project after a spill in the early '90s dumped hundreds of millions of gallons. The Saudis "figured...

Much of Spilled Oil Already Gone

Around 35% probably evaporated, model suggests

(Newser) - The Deepwater Horizon disaster has led to the release of million of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but figuring out where it all is has proven kind of hard. Roughly 4.6 million gallons seem to have pooled into a shape-shifting blob off the coast of Louisiana,...

Obama Slams Oil Spill Blame Game as 'Ridiculous Spectacle'

President has tough talk about the Gulf spill

(Newser) - President Obama ripped into the companies involved in the Gulf oil spill today, deriding their finger-pointing before Congress as a "ridiculous spectacle." He also promised to end a cozy relationship that has existed between federal regulators and companies drilling offshore for oil and gas.

Congress Wants Answers on Low Oil Leak Estimates

Experts say it's much higher than 5,000 barrels per day

(Newser) - News that way more oil than previously reported seems to be gushing out of the burst well in the Gulf of Mexico has caught the attention of Congress. Edward Markey, who chairs a House subcommittee on energy, says he'll ask BP and federal agencies to explain their estimates, reports CNN...

BP Releases Oil Gusher Video

First images show oil, gas spewing into sea

(Newser) - BP has yielded to pressure from the Coast Guard and the media and released a disheartening video of oil and natural gas spewing into the sea from its busted Deepwater Horizon well. The company says it is only releasing the video now because it wasn't asked to earlier, although ABC...

Oil Execs' Refrain: Don't Blame Me, Blame Him
Oil Execs' Refrain: Don't Blame Me, Blame Him
updated
May 11, 2010 3:50 PM CDT

Oil Execs' Refrain: Don't Blame Me, Blame Him

BP, Transocean, Halliburton CEOs testify in DC

(Newser) - As expected , the leaders of the oil and oil service companies involved with the Gulf oil spill attempted to shift blame onto one another at a Senate hearing today. Executives from BP, Transocean, and Halliburton each blamed the other companies' work for the blowout, the Washington Post reports. BP's...

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