Latest Energy Headlines

All the headlines from our Energy Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Thousands of Safer Ethanol Rail Tank Cars Sit Idle: Reuters

Mar 17 2017 // While crossing a small wooden bridge in northwestern Iowa last Thursday, 20 rail tank cars in a mile-long train transporting ethanol flew off the tracks, sending fireballs into the sky, while thousands of gallons of the...

Update: Fuel Tanker Hijacking Revives Fears of Somali Pirate Threat

Mar 16 2017 // The hijacking of a fuel tanker off Somalia’s coast shows the threat pirates still pose to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, a risk that may also hamper the Horn of African country’s efforts to...

Oil And Gas Spills Down in Colorado During Drilling Slowdown

Mar 15 2017 // Spills related to oil and gas development in Colorado are down for the second straight year amid a slowdown in drilling. The Daily Sentinel reported Tuesday that an analysis of state data by the conservation group Center...

Oregon Bills Intend to Prevent Or Mitigate Oil-Train Disasters

Mar 15 2017 // Native Americans, environmentalists and a fishing guide spoke out this week in support of two Oregon bills that aim to prevent, or at least mitigate, an ecological disaster like an oil spill into the Columbia River.One...

Appliances to Pipelines: Trump Plans Major Rollback of Obama Climate Change Rules

Mar 15 2017 // President Donald Trump is set to sign a sweeping directive to dramatically shrink the role climate change plays in decisions across the government, ranging from appliance standards to pipeline approvals, according to a...

Pirates Demand Ransom for Oil Tanker Hijacked off Coast of Somalia

Mar 15 2017 // Pirates off the coast of Somalia, who hijacked an oil tanker with eight Sri Lankan crew on board, are demanding a ransom for the release of the vessel, the EU Naval Force said.The pirates seized the Comoros-flagged Aris 13...

Somali Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker in 1st Commercial Attack in 5 Years

Mar 14 2017 // Pirates have hijacked an oil tanker with eight Sri Lankan crew onboard, a Somali official said on Tuesday, the first time they have successfully taken a commercial ship since 2012.The Aris 13 sent a distress call on...

Texas Oil Services Company Sued for Race-Based Harassment, Retaliation

Mar 10 2017 // A Texas-based manufacturer of equipment used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has been sued by the the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over charges of racial harassment and retaliation.The EEOC says...

House Balks at Senate Plan for Mississippi Oil Spill Damage Account

Mar 10 2017 // Mississippi lawmakers may be unable to decide this year how to spend $750 million in oil spill damage payments, with sniping between House and Senate members after a bill died at a Tuesday deadline for action when the...

Oil Companies Land a Victory in Louisiana Coastal Lawsuit

Mar 8 2017 // A federal appeals court on March 3 refused to revive a Louisiana levee board’s lawsuit blaming dozens of oil and gas companies for damage to the state’s fragile coast, a major victory for energy companies and...

Report: Energy Sector’s Lack of Sensors, Controls Tempts Hackers

Mar 7 2017 // Oil and gas companies, including some of the most celebrated industry names in the Houston area, are facing increasingly sophisticated hackers seeking to steal trade secrets and disrupt operations, according to a newspaper...

Oil Companies Sued by Oklahoma Tribe Over Quake

Mar 6 2017 // An Oklahoma-based Native American tribe filed a lawsuit in its own tribal court system Friday accusing several oil companies of triggering the state’s largest earthquake that caused extensive damage to some...

Houston Company to Pay $9.5M in Penalties for Oil Platform Blast, Safety Violations

Feb 26 2017 // An oil industry services company will pay $9.5 million in penalties for Gulf of Mexico safety violations and for pollution from a 2012 offshore platform fire that killed three workers.The penalties against Houston-based...

Drones Used to Improve Safety on Eni’s Oil Rigs

Feb 15 2017 // A British drone operator has won a contract to inspect rigs operated by one of the world’s largest oil producers.Sky Futures Ltd. will deploy drones at Eni S.p.A. facilities as part of a global three-year contract....

Insurer & Investor Group Urges G20 to Scrap Fossil Fuel Subsidies by 2020

Feb 15 2017 // Investors and insurers with more than $2.8 trillion in assets under management on Wednesday called on the Group of 20 economies to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 despite U.S. doubts about climate change.G20...

Ironshore Forms Oil & Gas Facility for Middle Market Energy Sector

Feb 14 2017 // Ironshore Specialty Casualty has formed Ironshore Energy Solutions, a dedicated oil & gas facility, offering liability coverages for on-shore middle market energy classes in the United States. Ironshore Insurance...

Four Critical Defects Found in Latest Oil Train Inspections in New York

Feb 13 2017 // State and federal inspectors found four critical defects and 42 non-critical ones in the latest round of oil train and track inspections across New York state.Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the targeted inspections of tank cars...

Defective Axle Blamed Fiery 2013 Derailment in North Dakota

Feb 9 2017 // A defective axle broke and caused a 2013 train derailment that led to a series of explosions just a quarter-mile outside a small North Dakota town, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.A BNSF train...

Canada’s Energy Firms at Risk from Cyber, Bomb Attacks: Security Service

Jan 19 2017 // Canada’s main spy agency last year warned energy companies about an increasing risk of cyber espionage and attacks on pipelines, oil storage and shipment facilities and power transmission towers using homemade...

Global Temperatures Hit Record High for 3rd Year in Row in 2016

Jan 19 2017 // World temperatures hit a record high for the third year in a row in 2016, creeping closer to a ceiling set by the Paris climate change deal, with extremes including unprecedented heat in India and ice melt in the Arctic,...