Three more dive boats have joined the search for a contractor still missing after an explosion Friday on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. The U.S. Coast Guard called off its search, but the company that owns the rig, Houston-based Black Elk Energy Company, continued to look for the missing worker.  One worker has been confirmed dead after...

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A Filipino oil worker died as a result of injuries sustained in the Nov. 16 explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana, the second fatality in the incident. One man is still missing and three remain in serious condition after suffering major burns in the blast.  The U.S. Department of Interior has called on Black Elk Energy Offshore Ope...

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The United States Coast Guard has completed investigations of violations on board a Royal Dutch Shell drill ship off the coast of Alaska, and has handed over its findings to the Department Of Justice. The investigation has found numerous safety violations on the Noble Discoverer. The inspections came to light only after the drilling season, whe...

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A final set of federal safety regulations were issued last week for offshore drilling. The rules are a fine-tuning of the emergency measures enacted after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill. The rules deal with how wells are designed and the testing of the cement and barriers that are used to secure them. The go...

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No fatalities were reported after a recent safety incident involving a helicopter that was forced to ditch in the North Sea. There were 19 people on board the helicopter, which crashed into the North Sea while it was on its way from Aberdeen to the West Phoenix semisubmersible. All 19 passengers were rescued, and then taken by helicopter back to...

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Offshore safety regulators in the United Kingdom have made what offshore injury lawyers believe is a major mistake, under pressure from drilling companies. The Health and Safety Executive, which is responsible for safety regulations in the North Sea has lightened the rules for reporting of offshore oil and gas drilling accidents. The announceme...

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A body thought to be one of two workers missing after an explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana was recovered late Saturday night, and the search for another missing worker was continuing. The two workers jumped off the platform into the Gulf of Mexico after the rig exploded Friday. The U.S. Coast Guard had suspended its search for ...

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Just a few days after the disastrous fire on board a shallow water offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal administration has issued a subpoena to Houston-based Black Elk Energy. The subpoena has been issued by the US Chemical Safety Board, which is seeking details about Black Elk Energy’s safety and environmental management strate...

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Royal Dutch Shell is again at the receiving end of criticism by the official Norwegian petroleum agency, for failures related to the safety of load-bearing structures on its Norwegian Sea platform. The Draugen platform is a concrete-based facility in the Norwegian Sea. According to the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority, it has investigated t...

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Most personnel on board the floating hotel rig, the Floatel Superior in the Norwegian Continental Shelf had to be evacuated after the discovery of a damaged ballast tank recently. The workers woke up in the early hours of the morning to the news that they would have to conduct an emergency evacuation of the rig because of the discovery of a lea...

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While assisting in running pipeline on a platform off the coast of Mexico in 2010, a 40-year-old welder was injured when his hand was caught in a snatch pulley. The man suffered partial severing to 8 fingers and an injury to his right shoulder. The incident occurred when the worker was securing a cable that ran through a 36-inch pipeline. Witho...

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A British Petroleum executive is defending a report on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in federal court in New Orleans today. Mark Bly was in charge of the company’s investigation into the explosion that killed 11 people and sent millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the fourth day of testimony. The civil trial ...

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Royal Dutch Shell announced today after a series of delays and setbacks that it was holding off until next year in its efforts to drill into oil and gas deposits in the Arctic offshore. In the latest delay, the company’s high-tech dome, which is designed to contain oil should an underwater spill happen, was damaged during a test. Shell said it ...

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A body recovered in the Gulf of Mexico may be the worker missing since an explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana on Nov. 16. The Jefferson Parish coroner’s office will use dental records and possibly DNA to determine whether the body is Jerome Malagapo, a Filipino contractor. The body was spotted Monday by crewmembers of a supply ve...

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The trial over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill is set to begin this morning in New Orleans before a federal judge, with no jury. Attempts to reach a settlement over the weekend failed, but legal experts expect that one will be reached, at least with the U.S. Department of Justice, within the next few months.  Eleven men were ...

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Even as oil and gas exploration opportunities open up in the state of Alaska and other parts of the world, the Gulf of Mexico is poised to retain its position as one of the biggest petroleum-producing areas of the globe. According to analysts, this region is, in fact, all set to enter the next stages of extended growth, and is expected to conti...

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The search has been halted for a contractor missing after an explosion on an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. The worker had been missing since Friday.  Jerome Malagapo, of the Philippines, was an employee of Grand Isle Shipyard Inc. and was working as a contractor on the rig, owned by Houston-based Black Elk Energy. One worker was confirmed...

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U.S. authorities have ordered that defective components on subsea equipment on several oil rigs currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico be inspected, because of possibly dangerous consequences. At least 24 oil rigs are believed to be equipped with the faulty component, a bolt which connects blowout preventers manufactured by a General Electri...

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Oil and gas exploration company Apache Corporation has announced that it managed to prevent a possibly disastrous well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico recently.  According to the company, it identified an “abnormally pressured gas zone” during drilling operations conducted in the shallow water Main Pass 295 in the Gulf Of Mexico. The problem was ...

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Alaska oil and gas reserves play a huge part in the federal administration's push to make the United States energy-efficient over the next few years. Exploration activities have already begun in the state, but according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, these efforts have only just scratched the surface of the state’s vast reserves....

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Rough weather, including gale-force winds and high waves, prompted Statoil ASA to evacuate by helicopter 336 people from a housing platform in the Norwegian Sea, the second time oil workers have faced serious safety issues since September. The platform offers temporary accommodations for offshore workers. The helicopters evacuated workers 15 at...

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After a deadly fire on a Black Elk Energy-operated platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the federal administration asked the company to boost safety in its offshore operations. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement informed Houston-based Black Elk Energy that it must improve safety at its offshore operations. That call from the federal ...

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