Gulf Of Mexico | featured news

After five months, the BP well that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is on the verge of being plugged.

Energy companies in the Gulf of Mexico will have to permanently plug nearly 3,500 nonproducing wells and dismantle about 650 unused platforms, the Obama administration says.

BP Plc's ruptured Gulf of Mexico well that caused the biggest U.S. offshore oil spill ever could be killed for good within four days, the U.S. official overseeing the spill response said on Wednesday.

Oil giant BP PLC said in an internal report posted on its website Wednesday morning that multiple companies and work teams contributed to the massive Gulf of Mexico spill that fouled waters and shorelines for months.

With the replacement of the failed blowout preventer and a cement plug in place, the well's seal is almost permanent, the federal spill response chief says. The final step will be to plug the well from the bottom.

The blowout preventer, which is considered a key piece of evidence in the Gulf of Mexico spill investigation, will now be raised to the surface.

There is no sign of an oil spill after a rig caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, a spokesman for rig operator Mariner Energy said.

An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused a massive oil spill.

The federal government has reopened 4,281 square miles of federal waters off the coast of western Louisiana to commercial and recreational fishing, according to Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is suddenly flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico.