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The Government Accountability Office has concluded that the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) could investigate more accidents if it would use its statutory authority to solicit other entities' work in some cases.
The single biggest question this August congressional recess remains whether compromise energy legislation that includes opening more of the US Outer Continental Shelf to leasing will be seriously considered in September.
Six more US senators expressed support for a bipartisan energy proposal which includes opening more of the Outer Continental Shelf for leasing, several members of the so-called "Gang of 10" announced on Aug. 26.
Democrats at their 2008 national convention presented a campaign platform which included an immediate rebate for consumers confronting high gasoline prices and billions of dollars in investments to "establish a green energy sector that will create up to 5 million new jobs."
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed natural gas as a transition to alternative fuels on Aug. 24 but continued to place conditions on a possible vote to open more of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas leasing.
Two organizations are planning energy-themed advertising campaigns stressing the need for more domestic oil and gas production as the Democratic and Republican national conventions approach.
World oil prices apparently have been given a reprieve from their early summer peak, two analysts in the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' economic research department contend.
The long-anticipated Roan Plateau lease sale netted a record $113.9 million, the US Bureau of Land Management said on Aug. 14. But the amount was less than what many Colorado politicians and groups anticipated.
US Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the presumed 2008 Republican presidential nominee, during an Aug. 19 visit to the Chevron Genesis deep sea production platform 100 miles off Louisiana's coast.
Five US senators joined Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Aug. 26 in urging Interior Secretary Dirk A. Kempthorne to withdraw his proposal to change the Endangered Species Act.
Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to pay $2.64 million to settle charges that it improperly disposed of and handled polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at its Hondo offshore platform in the Santa Barbara Channel, the US Environmental Protection Agency said on Aug. 21.
Opening limited portions of the Outer Continental Shelf while enacting so-called "use it or lose it" legislation and other counter-productive measures would be a mistake, National Petrochemical and Refining Association President Charles T. Drevna said on Aug. 22.
The Northern Gulf of Mexico sperm whale does not alter its visible behavior on the surface when exposed to seismic sounds, a new US Minerals Management study concluded.
Two portions of Marathon Petroleum Co.'s refinery complex at Garyville, La., have been designated ready for re-use, federal and state environmental regulators jointly announced.
There are an estimated 3.66 billion bbl of undiscovered oil and 651 trillion cubic feet of natural gas north of the Arctic Circle in Russia's West Siberian Basin Province, the US Geological Survey said in a new report.
US refiners have continued to add capacity despite soaring crude oil prices and shrinking margins, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association said as it released its annual refining and storage capacity report.
The American public is ready for energy solutions that look beyond traditional positions currently dominating political debate, a US Chamber of Commerce executive suggested at a Houston energy conference on Aug. 18.
Mountain States Petroleum Corp. agreed to settle charges that it violated federal underground injection well regulations, the US Environmental Protection Agency's southwest regional office announced.
US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) urged Interior Secretary Dirk A. Kempthorne to withdraw changes he has proposed for the Endangered Species Act and scheduled a hearing for Sept. 24 on the matter.
A bipartisan energy proposal developed by the US Senate's so-called "Gang of 10" provides a good starting point, two Democratic members of Colorado's congressional delegation said on Aug. 13 as they announced their own plan in Denver.
