Latest Energy Headlines

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

Crude Oil Train Derails in Western Pennsylvania

Feb 13 2014 // A Norfolk Southern Corp. train carrying crude oil derailed in Vandergrift in western Pennsylvania on Thursday, the company confirmed. There were as yet no reports of injuries or fire at the scene, after twenty-one tank...

BP Moves Ahead with Medical Payments Under $9.2B Oil Spill Settlement

Feb 13 2014 // BP Plc. won the right to move ahead with implementing the medical-benefits portion of its $9.2 billion settlement of oil spill claims with Gulf Coast residents after an appeals court dismissed the remaining plaintiffs at...

Canadian National Railway Raises Rates for Using Older Oil Tank Cars

Feb 13 2014 // Canadian National Railway is charging shippers more to transport crude oil in older tank cars, one of the first signs that rail operators are actively discouraging use of the type of cars involved in several dramatic...

Competing Bills to Address Safety of Oil Transport In Washington

Feb 12 2014 // Washington state lawmakers are considering competing measures that try to address potential risks as more crude oil is shipped by rail into the state. The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on a mostly...

Canadian Oil Train Derails, Spills in Mississippi

Feb 2 2014 // A Canadian National Railway Co. train carrying fuel oil and other hazardous materials derailed and was leaking in southeast Mississippi on Friday, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, officials said. No one was...

N.Y. Gov. Orders Agencies to Review Emergency Response Plans for Oil Trains

Jan 29 2014 // New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday ordered state agencies to review and update emergency response plans for rail shipments of crude oil that pass through the state in the wake of recent derailments out of North...

Iran Oil-Shipping Insurance Seen Unusable on Lack of Clarity

Jan 29 2014 // Insurance for tankers to export Iranian crude may be unusable even after the U.S. and the European Union eased sanctions against the Persian Gulf state, a group covering vessel owners said. Ship owners hauling Iran’s...

Oil Train Catastrophe Risk Weighs on Insurers: Kemp

Jan 28 2014 // In the event of a mass-casualty accident involving the derailment of a crude-carrying train in a densely populated urban area, who would be responsible for the compensation for deaths, injuries, damage to property and...

U.S., Canada Officials Say Tougher Oil Train Safety Rules Needed

Jan 27 2014 // Warning that a “major loss of life” could result from an accident involving the increasing use of trains to transport large amounts of crude oil, U.S. and Canadian accident investigators urged their governments...

Canada, U.S. Safety Agencies Urge Fast Action on Oil-by-Rail Cars

Jan 24 2014 // North American regulators should phase out the type of rail car involved in last July’s deadly Lac-Megantic crash “sooner rather than later,” Canadian investigators said on Thursday, urging the United...

Texas House Subcommittee to Study Quakes in Oil, Gas Producing Areas

Jan 21 2014 // The chairman of the Texas House Committee Energy on Energy Resources has set up a team of lawmakers to investigate earthquakes in oil and gas regions. Chairman Jim Keffer named three Republicans and one Democrat to the...

Car Use No Longer Growing in Developed World, But Why?

Jan 20 2014 // Car use appears to have leveled off and even started falling in many of the world’s advanced economies long before the global downturn in 2008, according to transport experts. The slowdown brings to an end several...

Why BP May Regret Aggressively Challenging Oil Settlement Payments

Jan 17 2014 // A year after agreeing to a multi-billion dollar settlement with victims of the 2010 Gulf oil spill, BP is aggressively challenging terms of the deal in a legal strategy that could backfire with the judge who will rule on...

Japan Oil Buyers to Return to Private Insurance for Iran Imports

Jan 17 2014 // Japanese crude buyers are set to switch back to private insurance providers for transportation of Iranian oil, after relief from some EU sanctions goes into effect next week, industry and government sources said. Under the...

Senate Re-Election Politics Boosts Flood Insurance Delay Proposals

Jan 16 2014 // Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will do just about anything to help Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu. He arranged the chamber’s floor agenda this week so Landrieu could lead debate on a flood insurance rate reprieve...

Europe to Relax Reinsurance Ban on Iranian Oil Exports Next Week

Jan 16 2014 // Europe is days from suspending a ban on reinsuring tankers hauling Iranian oil, a measure that helped cut the nation’s crude exports by more than 50 percent when it was implemented. The six-month relaxation starts...

Punctured Cars in North Dakota Train Crash Spilled 400K Gallons of Crude Oil

Jan 15 2014 // Eighteen of 20 tanker cars carrying oil that derailed in the fiery crash of two trains in North Dakota in late December were punctured, spilling more than 400,000 gallons of crude oil, safety regulators reported. In a...

Utah Claims Settled by Phillips 66 for $2 Million

Jan 14 2014 // Oil refiner Phillips 66 has paid $2 million to settle allegations it helped itself to a state fund for cleaning up damage from leaking fuel storage tanks even though it had insurance to cover the cleanups. Phillips 66 is...

EU Sanctions Relief for Iran Includes Lifting Insurance Ban

Jan 13 2014 // European Union governments will implement all EU sanctions relief for Iran covered by a landmark nuclear deal on Jan. 20, the day the agreement takes effect – including lifting a ban on insuring its oil, officials...

BP Oil Spill Settlement Fight Wages On

Jan 13 2014 // BP Plc’s $9.2 billion partial settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was upheld by an appeals court over the company’s protest that the deal wasn’t valid unless a claims-payment dispute was...