Energy, Oil Drilling | featured news

BP is set to begin drilling off Libya amid safety concerns over the Gulf of Mexico spill and accusations over the Lockerbie bomber.

BP said today its attempt to place a new cap on its ruptured undersea well was proceeding as planned. But while robots replace the old cap, crude is flowing freely.

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.

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

Sarah Palin, who popularized the "drill, baby, drill" slogan, continues to support drilling but targets blame for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill at foreign companies.

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

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