Oil Spill, Bp Oil Spill | featured news

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

BP was working to remove the failed blowout preventer from its ruptured well  — a key step towards killing the well and salvaging evidence that could help in the inquiry into the disaster.

BP Plc said on Friday it has completed a pressure test on its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well and those results are under review by government scientists and the British oil company.

BP PLC says it may in the future drill in the same Gulf of Mexico oil reservoir that blew its top and caused one of the world's worst spills. Officials said Friday at a news briefing in New Orleans that the company hasn't closed the door to tapping the reservoir again. Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles says "there's lots of oil and gas here." He says "we're going to have to think about what to do with that at some point."

BP claimed a key victory Wednesday in the effort to plug its blown-out well as a government report said much of the spilled oil is gone — though what's left is still nearly five times the amount that poured from the Exxon Valdez.

Only about 26 percent of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak is still in the water or onshore, and most of it is diluted and breaking down rapidly, officials say.

Gov't scientists now estimate nearly 5 million barrels of oil have leaked into the Gulf since April, easily topping Mexico's 1979 spill of 3.3 million barrels | DAY 105Questions on Dispersants |

BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is fueling opposition to the University of California, Berkeley's research partnership with ...

One hundred days after an oil well operated by BP ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico, the man overseeing the federal response is optimistic that steps planned for the coming days will finally, permanently seal the well.

Spill from blowout is degrading rapidly in warm waters, becoming tougher to find, director says.