Interior Department Report on Drilling Oversight Calls for More Resources

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that an Interior Department task force has delivered to him a report that includes 59 recommendations for changes to the way the department oversees offshore drilling.

The report, conducted by the Outer Continental Shelf Safety Oversight Board, includes recommendations “to strengthen permitting, inspections, enforcement More…

Transocean Pushes Back Against BP Spill Report

The investigation into the oil spill BP released today is already causing waves. In the report, BP spread the blame for the spill among “multiple companies, work teams and circumstances.”

Now Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon rig, says BP is dodging responsibility for the spill.

Oil Industry: Dispersant Use ‘Critical’ in Preventing Oil From Hitting Shore

A report written by the oil industry laying out recommendations for future oil spill responses says that the use of chemical dispersants to break up the oil that spilled into the Gulf “was a critical element in preventing significant oiling of sensitive shoreline habitats during the [Deepwater Horizon] response.” The More…

Oil Industry Releases Offshore Drilling Safety Recommendations

The oil industry delivered two reports to the Interior Department today outlining recommendations for responding to and preventing future oil spills. The reports are part of a broad effort by the oil industry, including powerful trade groups like the American Petroleum Institute, to review its practices in light of the More…

Life-Long Louisiana Resident Reacts to Vermilion 380 Explosion

This post is the first in an occasional blog series in which we hear from real Gulf coast residents on how the oil spill impacts their lives.

Elodia Blanco, a life-long Louisiana resident, watched her television yesterday in disbelief.

Another Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf

Another oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The New York Times reports that the rig is “just east” of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded in April, leading to the massive Gulf oil spill.

I’m going to do some of my own reporting on this and More…

A Correction on Crowd Size at API Rally

The American Petroleum Institute is taking issue with a crowd estimate included in a story I linked to yesterday that was published in our sister-publication, The American Independent.

The story focused on an API-sponsored rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, that had around 80 attendees. Though API estimates the crowd More…

[Updated] Attendance at Oil Industry Rallies in Texas Falls Short of Expectations

Our sister-publication, The American Independent, reports that only 80 people showed up to a rally in Corpus Christi and several hundred attended a similar rally in Houston. Organizers had estimated that 5,000 people would show up to the Houston rally.

[Update: More than 5,000 people attended the rally in More…

Gulf Coast Workers Seeking Compensation Face Long Waits, Despite Big Promises

In the four months since the Gulf oil spill, Jacob Brown’s life has fallen apart. (TWI has changed Brown and the other claimants’ names at their request, due to fear of reprisals for their speaking out.) In May, he lost his job as an oil drilling engineer in Louisiana after More…

BP Tripled Spending on Advertising in Three Months After Oil Spill

In the three months after the Gulf oil spill, BP allocated three times more to its advertising budget than it did in the same three months last year, according to data released today by a congressional committee.

According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is conducting an investigation More…