BP oil spill cleanup and containment

Tropical storm heightens evacuation planning for oil spill site
Article | Storms in the Caribbean are the latest threat to the frustratingly slow effort to contain and clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Firms try to reduce liability in spill
Article | As BP opens its checkbook to pay damages related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it is beginning to do battle over a high-stakes question: Who else bears liability?

Seafood with a side of dread
Article | WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- Paul Pointer was speeding north along Florida's eastern coast in a rented Ford SUV, guzzling Mountain Dew, heading to a dock to buy tuna and swordfish so fresh the tails were still curled in rigor mortis. This was no ordinary business trip for Pointer, who buys seafood fo...

Sealing cap installed on gulf oil well
Article | The fate of the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well, and of deep-water oil drilling in general, remained very much unresolved Monday, even as BP engineers finally installed a massive new sealing cap that could potentially enable them to shut down the well permanently.

Environmental groups face their future in climate-change debate
Article | On Thursday, some of the country's most respected environmental groups - in the midst of their biggest political fight in two decades - sent a group of activists to Milwaukee with a message.

Moving to next phase in plugging BP well
Article | NEW ORLEANS -- A procedure intended to ease the job of permanently plugging the blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could start as early as the weekend, the government's point man for the spill response said Thursday.

Judge blocks moratorium on deep-water oil drilling
Article | The oil industry won a round in the legal battle over offshore drilling Tuesday when a federal judge in New Orleans issued an injunction blocking the six-month moratorium President Obama imposed on deep-water drilling in late May.

Mishap lets well gush anew
Article | The Deepwater Horizon well became an uncapped geyser once again Wednesday, the hydrocarbons surging freely into the deep sea after engineers were forced to remove the dome that had been capturing significant quantities of oil.

Oil industry cleanup organization swamped by BP spill
Article | For the past two decades, companies that produce and transport oil have channeled tens of millions of dollars a year into an organization they set up to provide cleanup equipment and personnel if a catastrophic offshore spill were ever to hit the United States.

'Integrity test' halts spew of oil, for now
Article | The gusher is gone. The plume is off the well. BP's Macondo well isn't dead yet, and it may be back in a flash, but at 3:25 p.m. Eastern time Thursday it ceased to spew oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP points to innovations arising from gulf oil spill
Article | A glossy "Lessons Learned" document released on Thursday by BP describes the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill as a valuable spur for innovation in containing future oil rig failures.

Missing oil in gulf: A good sign or bad?
Article | Was Tony Hayward right, after all? Back in May, BP's chief executive told a British newspaper that "the Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean," and the vast amounts of oil and chemical dispersants dumped into it were small by comparison. After he said that, BP's well leaked for two more months. Hayw...

BP CEO defends deepwater drilling
Article | LONDON - BP chief executive Bob Dudley defended potentially dangerous deepwater drilling Monday, even as he tried to strike a penitent note for the devastating Gulf of Mexico spill in his first external address since taking the top job.

Firms in gulf drilling are working to limit liability in spill
Article | As BP opens its checkbook to pay damages related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it is beginning to do battle over a high-stakes question: Who else bears liability?

Judge in drilling case had held oil stock
Article | The federal judge who presided over a challenge to the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling simultaneously owned stock in an oil company affected by the ban, according to a financial disclosure statement released Friday.

Along Louisiana's bayous, more worry about future than relief over well kill
Article | HOUMA, LA. -- There was no collective sigh of relief along Louisiana's bayous.

Oil spill hearings focus on improvements, not blame
Article | HOUSTON -- A Transocean rig manager testified Monday that, about a week before the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, he challenged his counterparts at BP to explain their decision to swap out the most experienced well-site leader -- or "company man" -- for someone less...

How the Minerals Management Service's partnership with industry led to failure
Article | Two weeks after BP's Macondo well blew out in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal government's Minerals Management Service finalized a regulation intended to control the undersea pressures that threaten deepwater drilling operations.

Lawyers taking center stage in oil-spill investigation
Article | HOUSTON - The Macondo well gushes no more, but the lawyers are just getting started.

BP begins maneuver to capture more oil
Article | BP took one step back Saturday in order to take two steps forward in its struggle to tame the gushing Macondo oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, removing a cap that was catching some of the oil in the hopes of replacing it with one that would capture most or all of the leaking crude.

First BP well site leader testifies
Article | KENNER, LA. -- On April 16, four days before the Deepwater Horizon exploded in a fireball, one of the two "company men" who oversaw drilling operations on the oil rig for BP boarded a helicopter and headed for shore. Ironically, he went to a training program on blowout preventers.

Gulf priority shifts to corralling boom
Article | The successful "static kill" of the Macondo well, combined with the almost total disappearance of skimmable oil at the water's surface, has dramatically changed the nature of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis. Fishermen originally enlisted to skim oil are now rushing to retrieve millions of feet...

BP's Kent Wells questioned about who had final responsibility in drilling work
Article | HOUSTON - Federal investigators on Thursday grilled BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells on the company's history of safety problems in the Gulf of Mexico and demanded more clarity on who at the company is ultimately responsible, and accountable, for drilling operations.

BP has reimbursed $518 million to U.S. for oil-spill cleanup in Gulf of Mexico
Article | BP has reimbursed the federal government $518 million for cleanup costs for the April oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, congressional auditors said, but those costs have already hit $581 million and are still growing.

BP readies 'static kill' procedure
Article | BP plans to begin easing mud into its runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico by Monday night, a preliminary step in a "static kill" procedure that potentially could kill the Macondo well by midweek.

The Valdez's unheeded lessons
Article | The story of the last cataclysmic American oil spill has evolved over time into a straightforward tale of cause and effect: In 1989, a hard-drinking skipper ran his tanker aground in Alaska, and Exxon was unable to prevent crude from spreading along hundreds of miles of pristine shoreline.

BP falling far short of claims on oil removal
Article | In the 77 days since oil from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon began to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, BP has skimmed or burned about 60 percent of the amount it promised regulators it could remove in a single day.

For BP, a $3 billion start as end is in sight
Article | MIAMI -- BP advanced on the final lap toward permanently killing the source of the world's worst offshore oil spill and kicked off a $20 billion compensation fund with a $3 billion deposit Monday.

Glimpsing a break from spill routine
Article | GULF SHORES, ALA. -- When Friday dawned, it was still Groundhog Day in Alabama.

Test halted as BP's plan suffers setback
Article | A new piece of equipment designed to control the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well sprung its own leak Wednesday night, the latest setback to BP's efforts to put an end to the environmental disaster.

'Static kill' leaves gulf oil well lifeless
Article | On the 107th day of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Macondo well became an apparently harmless hole in the seafloor, clogged with 13-pound-per-gallon gunk, and barely more of a threat to spew oil into the Gulf of Mexico than to start gushing lemonade.

Federal investigators again call witnesses of oil spill
Article | A federal investigative panel will begin its next round of hearings Monday into the Deepwater Horizon disaster and call witnesses who can address alleged shortcuts in the drilling of the BP oil well, problems with the failed blowout preventer and the confused scene after an explosion on the rig.

BP, 8 other firms sued by Justice Dept. over gulf oil spill
Article | The Justice Department sued BP and eight other companies Wednesday over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, the federal government's first legal filing in its broad investigation of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP lawyers say Gulf of Mexico oil spill size is overestimated by government
Article | BP lawyers have said that government estimates of the size of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are too big, perhaps by as much as 20 to 50 percent, signaling a dispute that will determine how many billions of dollars of fines BP will have to pay under the Clean Water Act.

For now, assessment of oil spill damage is a joint effort
Article | In recent weeks, the Obama administration has sought to distance itself from BP in handling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill -- with one notable exception: When it comes to assessing how badly the spill has harmed the gulf, the two sides are working hand in hand.

Seafood with a side of dread
Article | WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- Paul Pointer was speeding north along Florida's eastern coast in a rented Ford SUV, guzzling Mountain Dew, heading to a dock to buy tuna and swordfish so fresh the tails were still curled in rigor mortis. This was no ordinary business trip for Pointer, who buys seafood fo...

Cap may erase sense of hopelessness in oil spill
Article | So is it over? Not technically, not politically, not environmentally. BP's Macondo well remains dangerous, a threat to gush anew, and very much alive until it is plugged with cement in a bottom-kill that's still weeks away at best. Criminal and civil investigations are going full bore. Exploratory...

'BP squad' assembles to probe oil spill
Article | A team of federal investigators known as the "BP squad" is assembling in New Orleans to conduct a wide-ranging criminal probe that will focus on at least three companies and examine whether their cozy relations with federal regulators contributed to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, accordi...

Obama and oil drilling: How politics spilled into policy
Article | In early April, fresh from announcing his decision to allow drilling in previously protected waters, an upbeat President Obama traveled to a battery factory in North Carolina. The day's topic was the economy, but a concerned questioner rose after the speech to ask about the thinking behind his ne...

Echoes of gulf spill in Michigan
Article | MARSHALL, MICH. -- In the Summer of the Spill, history is already repeating itself, this time in Michigan.

Coast Guard feels the strain of greater workload
Article | The U.S. Coast Guard in recent years has fought international terrorism, defended Iraqi pipelines and patrolled for pirates in the Arabian Sea.

BP moves to secure a new cap on oil well
Article | In a complicated subsea dance involving robots and hardware, BP made progress Sunday in its effort to install a new, secure cap on the gushing oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, but the company says that it is early in the week-long project and that the oil is spewing as skimmers try t...

Oil in Lake Pontchartrain stokes worries in New Orleans
Article | Experts say that the newly discovered oil in Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans is not likely to cause much environmental damage. But the presence of tar balls and oil sheen so close to the Big Easy is a psychological blow.

Most in oil, gas lobbies worked for government
Article | Three out of every four lobbyists who represent oil and gas companies previously worked in the federal government, a proportion that far exceeds the usual revolving-door standards on Capitol Hill, a Washington Post analysis shows.

MMS oil-rig probes show history of inconsistency
Article | A year and a day before BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, crew members on a neighboring oil rig found themselves bracing for their own potential disaster.

Panel: White House blocked oil spill figures
Video | The White House blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could have been, according to a panel appointed by the president investigating the disaster.

Top Obama environmental advisers had limited role in plan to expand oil drilling
Article | Two of President Obama's top environmental advisers told a panel investigating the cause of the BP oil spill Wednesday that they did not provide the environmental and scientific basis for the administration's new five-year plan expanding oil and gas drilling off the nation's coasts.

Kenneth Feinberg's plan to settle oil-spill claims met with opposition
Article | Kenneth R. Feinberg is in charge of handing out $20 billion of BP's money, but he's finding that it isn't easy.