Latest Oil Gas Headlines

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

Canada to Overhaul Rail Safety Rules; More Insurance Will Be Required

Feb 23 2015 // The Canadian government is overhauling its safety rules for crude oil shipments by train, creating a disaster fund and forcing railways to carry more insurance.Oil companies will pay into the fund, which will be used when...

Gas Vapor Possible Factor in West Virginia Oil Train Fireball

Feb 20 2015 // Federal investigators will examine whether pressurized gas played a role in the massive blast that followed the derailment of a train carrying crude oil through West Virginia this week, the U.S. Transportation Department...

Energy Workers at Loose Ends after Drop in Crude Prices

Feb 20 2015 // The drive from Ken Mercer’s home in Tennessee to the oil fields of western North Dakota takes 20 hours if you drive straight through.Every month, Mercer, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, would make the trip as...

Ohio’s Supreme Court Affirms State’s Power to Regulate Oil and Gas

Feb 18 2015 // Certain local zoning laws can’t be used to supersede Ohio’s state-level system for regulating oil and gas drilling, a fiercely divided Ohio Supreme Court has ruled.In a 4-3 decision with three written dissents,...

Calls for Safety Upgrades Follow West Virginia Oil Train Crash

Feb 18 2015 // A fiery oil train derailment in West Virginia this week exposes lax safety standards and strengthens the case for tougher U.S. rules governing such shipments, safety advocates said on Tuesday.A 109-car delivery of crude...

North Dakota Officials Stress Job Resiliency in Oil Industry

Feb 17 2015 // A recent slide in oil prices is leading to fewer jobs in the western North Dakota oil patch, but officials there and in northwestern South Dakota say the regional industry is resilient and will ride out the slump.Openings...

Court Rules BP Not Covered by Transocean’s $750M Insurance

Feb 17 2015 // BP Plc isn’t covered under Transocean Ltd.’s insurance policies for the undersea well blowout that caused the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, the Texas Supreme Court said, blocking the oil company’s access...

Federal Judge Dismisses Louisiana Levee Board’s Suit against Oil Companies

Feb 16 2015 // A federal judge has dismissed a New Orleans-area levee authority’s lawsuit charging oil and gas companies with destroying Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.The lawsuit was filed by the Southeast Louisiana Flood...

Update: Crude Oil Train Derails in West Virginia

Feb 16 2015 // A CSX Corp train hauling North Dakota crude derailed in West Virginia on Monday, setting a number of cars ablaze, destroying a house and forcing the evacuation of two towns in the second significant oil-train incident in...

Global Climate Deal Blueprint Emerges From UN Gathering in Geneva

Feb 13 2015 // Envoys from some 190 nations are taking more seriously the idea of setting a goal for phasing out the pollution from fossil fuels, lending support to the movement against investments in oil and coal companies.After a week...

Oil-Tainted Feed Suspected in Death of 50K Turkeys in Michigan

Feb 11 2015 // Federal officials are investigating how feed likely contaminated with oil intended for industrial uses ended up killing 50,000 turkeys on a western Michigan farm in August.State scientists at a January meeting of the...

Geologists Look for Earthquake, Fracking Connection in Kansas

Feb 6 2015 // For at the last 15 months, Kansas geologist Rex Buchanan estimates, he’s spent 90 percent of his time studying something once relatively rare in the state — earthquakes.He has learned a lot, said the director of...

Oil Tankers Run Gauntlet in Nigeria’s ‘Pirate Alley’

Feb 6 2015 // A pirate attack that killed a supertanker crewman off the coast of Nigeria this week has highlighted a growing threat off oil-rich West Africa, as vessels carrying millions of barrels of crude traverse a region that has...

Trial Over, Judge to Decide Extent of BP’s Penalties for Gulf Oil Spill

Feb 4 2015 // The latest phase of a trial to determine how much BP should pay in Clean Water Act penalties for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill — which could reach $13.7 billion — ended on Feb. 2, but a decision from the judge is...

Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Develops Earthquake Plan

Feb 2 2015 // The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission now has a plan for future earthquakes after two small quakes rattled an area in Weld County that officials later determined were likely caused by a nearby injection well.The...

Montana Oil Spill Is Latest Involving Wyoming Pipeline Company

Feb 2 2015 // The Wyoming company whose pipeline leaked 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River in Montana and its sister company have had multiple pipeline spills and federal fines levied against them in the last decade,...

Republicans in South Carolina to Introduce Medical Marijuana Bill

Feb 2 2015 // Republican legislators in conservative South Carolina expect to introduce bills next month allowing marijuana to be grown and prescribed for certain illnesses.State Sen. Tom Davis and Rep. Jenny Horne said last Thursday...

Diesel Fuel Spill in West Virginia Leaves 12,000 Residents, Businesses without Water

Jan 28 2015 // Schools, restaurants and businesses in the Lewisburg, West Virginia area were closed Monday and about 12,000 people were without water following a diesel fuel spill that prompted a shutdown of the city’s treatment...

BP Witness Praises Oil Spill Response at Fines Trial

Jan 27 2015 // BP Plc “conducted an extraordinarily effective response” to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, the company’s first witness testified Monday as the oil producer sought to minimize potential pollution fines.BP...

Oil Tankers in Front Line of Libya’s Struggle; Insurance at Risk

Jan 27 2015 // Oil shippers face higher costs and the possible loss of insurance cover on Libyan voyages, caught in a struggle between the rival governments there and threatened by air attacks.John Dalby of maritime security firm MRM,...