Oil, Offshore Oil Drilling | featured news

Robot submarines carried equipment and cut small pipes at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday to prepare to place a new containment valve over the blown-out well this week, while BP crews began working on yet another containment plan that could be added after the cut-and-cap effort.

BP's attempt to plug the Gulf oil leak with mud and cement has failed, yet another setback in the company's attempt to stop the crude from further fouling waters, wildlife and marshland.

President Barack Obama will announce on Thursday that a moratorium on deepwater oil drilling will continue for six months while a commission studies the reasons for the Gulf of Mexico spill, a White House aide said.

The federal agency charged with regulating the oil industry has allowed the industry largely to police itself, records show.

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.

In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Obama is allowing oil drilling 50 miles off Virginia's shore.

Facing another huge deficit, the governor wants $8 billion or threatens massive cuts in social services. He also plans to renew push for offshore oil drilling.