Oil, Gulf Of Mexico | featured news

Oil giant BP conceded Thursday that the Gulf of Mexico oil leak is larger than it originally estimated, adding more worry as portions of the ...

The Obama administration warned BP in a strongly worded letter Saturday that the federal government expects the oil giant -- and not taxpayers -- to pay all damages associated with the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil leak, even if they exceed the $75-million liability cap under federal law.

The effort to place a massive containment dome over a gushing underwater wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico was dealt a setback when a large volume of hydrates -- icelike crystals that form when gas combines with water -- accumulated inside the vessel, a BP official said Saturday.

Administration wants investigations into a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico to be completed before any expansion of offshore oil drilling.

BP Plc will clean up an oil spill from one of its wells in the Gulf of Mexico and compensate those affected, its chief executive said, accepting that the disaster could hit plans to open new areas off the U.S. coast to drilling.

Twelve people were missing and seven critically injured after an explosion and fire at an oil-drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it was responding to a tanker collision in the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles offshore Texas, which resulted in an 18,000 gallon oil spill.