Latest Oil Gas Headlines
All the headlines from our Oil Gas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Investors, Bondholders Sue Occidental Over Anadarko Merger
Jun 1 2020 // Occidental Petroleum Corp. has been sued by investors who claim they suffered billions of dollars of losses because the heavily indebted company concealed its inability to weather plunging oil prices, after paying $35.7...
U.S. Court Says State Courts Are Proper Forum for Climate Suits Against Big Oil
May 29 2020 // Big Oil lost a pair of court battles Tuesday that could lead to trials in lawsuits by California cities and counties seeking damages for the impact of climate change. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected...
After Big Oil Loses Appeal, Climate Suits Appear Headed to California Courts
May 28 2020 // Big Oil lost a pair of court battles this week that could lead to trials in lawsuits by California cities and counties seeking damages for the impact of climate change. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected...
Texas Unemployment Rate Hits 12.8% in April, Worst on Record
May 27 2020 // The state’s April jobless rate was 12.8% — Texas’ worst monthly tally on record. That number, included in the Labor Department’s monthly report released on May 22, is the government’s clearest and...
Ship Inspectors Conduct Virtual Inspections of Oil Tankers During Pandemic
May 27 2020 // Ship assessors are resorting to virtual inspections of oil tankers to keep vessels afloat, as the coronavirus pandemic makes physical visits to check for seaworthiness tougher and a slump in fuel demand increases the need...
Investigators Open Probe into Los Angeles Explosion
May 19 2020 // Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives. Detectives from the Los...
Trump Safety Regulator Blocks Washington State’s Crude Oil Train Rules
May 13 2020 // The U.S. pipeline regulator late on Monday blocked an effort by Washington state to tighten vapor pressure restrictions on the transport of crude oil by rail, saying the measures would not lower the risk of explosions. The...
Insurers Zurich and Chubb Raise Cover for Canada Oil Sands Pipeline: Filings
May 13 2020 // Major insurers Zurich and Chubb increased their insurance cover for a Canadian oil sands pipeline over the last year, Canadian regulatory filings show. The Trans Mountain pipeline, which ships types of crude oil and...
Auditor: Coronavirus, Oil Glut Could Cost Louisiana Local Governments $1B
May 11 2020 // The coronavirus battle and the world oil glut could cost cities, parishes and school boards in Louisiana anywhere from $404 million to $1.1 billion over two fiscal years, the state’s Legislative Auditor’s...
Houston Confronts One-Two Punch of Coronavirus and Oil Bust
May 8 2020 // When you’re known as the energy capital of the world, oil busts are nothing new. But Houston now finds itself in uncharted territory — grappling with an oil downturn in the middle of a pandemic. Like in other...
Texas Regulatory Commission Says it Won’t Cut Oil Production
May 6 2020 // After overseeing the state’s energy sector through one of Texas’ largest oil booms in recent years, the Texas Railroad Commission has suddenly found itself in the middle of two global crises that have delivered...
Floods Hit Canada’s Oil Sands Hub in Fort McMurray, Forcing Some Evacuations
Apr 28 2020 // Floods have forced mandatory evacuations in parts of Fort McMurray, the hub for Canada’s oil sands industry, even as the province of Alberta tries to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The Regional Municipality of...
Emergency Order Allows Oil Wells to Shut Down in Oklahoma
Apr 27 2020 // The Oklahoma Corporation Commission approved an emergency order on April 22 that allows oil producers to stop or reduce production without losing their leases for non-production. The three-member, all-Republican panel that...
Analysis: It’s Not the Whole Texas Economy, But Energy Is a Critical Piece
Apr 22 2020 // If it lasts, this week’s plunge in oil prices could hit the Texas economy in ways that make it much harder for state and local governments to help the state’s residents. It’s part of a double whammy on...
10 Years Later: Oil Drilled Deeper; Rules Relaxed After BP Oil Spill
Apr 20 2020 // Ten years after an oil rig explosion killed 11 workers and unleashed an environmental nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico, companies are drilling in deeper and deeper waters, where payoffs can be huge but risks are greater...
Coronavirus Confirmed on Offshore Oil Platforms in Gulf
Apr 17 2020 // The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has been confirmed in more than two dozen people working on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said. While an offshore rig might seem like an unlikely place for...
Rising Sea Levels Could Double Extreme Flooding Events on Coastline, Report States
Apr 16 2020 // “Sea-level rise will radically redefine the coastline of the 21st century.” That’s from a new study that shows rising sea levels could lead to extreme flooding events in some U.S. coastal areas doubling...
Regulator: Thousands of Oil Wells Idled in North Dakota
Apr 16 2020 // A top state oil regulator estimates that North Dakota producers have idled thousands of wells — amounting to more than a quarter of the oil wells in the state — as the U.S. oil industry crashed during the coronavirus...
Texas’ Oil and Gas Regulators Not Ready to Cut Production
Apr 15 2020 // Facing a steep drop in oil demand with much of the world staying home to practice social distancing, more than 55 energy executives, analysts and critics appeared one after another Tuesday at a video meeting of the Texas...
Railroads Resist Oil Companies’ Demands for Storage in Rail Cars Citing Safety Concerns
Apr 13 2020 // Railroads are clamping down on rising demand from oil companies to store crude in rail cars due to safety concerns, sources said, even as the number of places available to stockpile oil is rapidly dwindling. Oil demand is...
