Topic: Minerals Management Service

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Majority of blame for Gulf oil spill lies with BP, two US agencies find

The US agencies' exhaustive report on the Gulf oil spill said complacency and cost-cutting led BP to make a series of decisions that complicated operations and added risk before the rig exploded.
Gulf oil spill: Transocean report continues the circular finger-pointing

Transocean Ltd., the Swiss company that owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, says the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that occurred last year is the result of successive decisions made by well owner BP. BP calls it "an advocacy piece" to support Transocean's "litigation strategy."
On Gulf Coast, nail-biting over future of domestic oil drilling

Stricter deep-water drilling regulations mean Gulf Coast waters are likely to yield less oil this year. Energy firms may shift attention abroad.
Obama team braces for Rep. Darrell Issa, avid investigator

Rep. Darrell Issa, who is set to take over the chairmanship of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has made no secret of his love of hearings. He wants hundreds of them.
Obama's new offshore oil drilling rules: too many loopholes?

The White House’s new guidelines for offshore oil drilling in deep water were intended to make it tougher for oil companies to avoid detailed environmental reviews.
Stripped down energy bill leaves out 'cap and trade'

Without 'cap and trade,' Senate majority leader Harry Reid said Tuesday the narrower energy bill has a better shot at overcoming GOP opposition.
Offshore drilling moratorium: good for the Gulf, bad for the economy?

The federal government enacted a six-month moratorium on offshore drilling in deep waters in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. Depending on who you ask, it is either an environmental necessity or an economic disaster.
How Obama wants to protect oceans: White House unveils new plan

The Obama administration wants to change the way America manages its oceans. So it has introduced a plan to bring all stakeholders – from fishermen to oil companies – to the table.
After Gulf oil spill, Obama plans better use of oceans

With the end of the BP oil spill in sight, Obama orders federal agencies to zone human uses of coastal seas (and the Great Lakes). It won't be easy but it is essential.
Offshore drilling moratorium: US cites blowout preventers' weak spot

The Obama administration on Monday cited control systems on subsea blowout preventers as one reason for its offshore drilling moratorium. But more than a year before the BP oil spill, authorities learned that balky control systems were the most common cause of blowout preventer failure.
Offshore drilling chief says he's willing to put oil executives in jail

Offshore drilling chief Michael Bromwich, who started his job three weeks ago as head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, says that he is not afraid to put lawbreaking oil executives behind bars.
Six lessons from the BP oil spill

What the tragedy of the BP oil spill has taught us about regulations, technology, and how our energy diet must change.
The Circle Bastiat
Was BP just following the government's lead?

While BP is being bashed for the company-wide effort to contain its recent spill in the Gulf, the spill is so difficult to deal with precisely because of government intervention in the marketplace.
ThinkMarkets
Gulf oil spill: Mr. President, the problem isn't just MMS

The Gulf oil spill has focused attention on the Minerals Management Service (MMS). But President Obama's disregard of the environment is more important.
BP oil spill: MMS shortcomings include 'dearth of regulations'

MMS (Minerals Management Service) was ill-prepared to oversee the oil and gas industry because it lacked inspectors and regulations, the Interior Department's inspector general testified Thursday.
Studies suggest MMS knew blowout preventers had 'critical' flaws

Government regulators have said that the failure of the Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer April 20 was unforeseeable. But studies conducted for federal regulators in MMS or with their participation show that blowout preventers were known to have 'safety critical' vulnerabilities.
Hurricane season and Gulf oil pipelines. Trouble ahead?

Hurricane season is upon us and that could mean trouble for the 31,000 miles of Gulf oil pipelines that snake across the floor of the Gulf.
BP's gulf oil spill response plan lists the walrus as a local species. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is furious.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is angry and frustrated at BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which lists walruses, sea otters, sea lions, and seals as 'sensitive biological resources' and names a man who died in 2005 as a national wildlife expert.
After oil spill cleanup, will we tighten the laws?

As the BP oil spill cleanup continued last week, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) proposed new legislative action that would raise the BP's liability. Are we entering a new era of increased regulation?
Oil spill jail time for BP officials? It could happen.

BP officials could be prosecuted under the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and the Endangered Species Act. So could federal officials if they aided and abetted any illegal acts.
Before BP oil spill, Big Oil-led study urged feds to cut safety testing

The 2009 study intensifies suspicions that Big Oil interests trumped US safety regulations, a concern that has been growing since the BP oil spill.
BP oil spill: an accounting of its impacts after 39 days

Corporate behavior, drilling methods, regulators’ roles, and the search for oil alternatives all are reexamined in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Why the Gulf oil spill demands more than new regulations

Just trying to prevent similar human-caused natural disasters with more government rules doesn't get to the deeper need for humans to act even more morally in a complex, high-tech world.
In offshore drilling freeze, rumblings of a new era for oil industry

The six-month moratorium on new deepwater offshore drilling announced by President Obama Thursday isn't likely to have a big impact on the oil industry – unless it's a sign of things to come.
BP Gulf oil spill: Congress zeroes in on federal oversight

Was the government adequately monitoring the drilling by the Deepwater Horizon? Is the government too cozy with the industry it's regulating? Lawmakers of both parties want answers following the Gulf oil spill.