Monthly Archives: September 2010
The economy isn’t headed back into a recession any time soon, but the U.S. should expect slow growth over the next 18 months, Regions Bank’s chief economist said Wednesday. Bob Allsbrook, speaking to reporters on a conference call, reiterated his view that the damage wrought by the financial crisis would lead consumers and businesses to save more and borrow less, cutting the spending that has fueled economic growth in recent [...]
Read More »BP’s new chief executive, Bob Dudley, has ousted the company’s chief of exploration and production in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and divided his responsibilities among three other BP executives. Dudley, an American who formally takes over the London-based oil giant Friday, also said he would elevate the company’s safety chief, Mark Bly, the author of the recent report on the Macondo well [...]
Read More »We’ve grown accustomed to the silence of BP cleanup workers, who fear losing their jobs and pay if they dare speak the truth. But one brave cleanup crew member is telling WKRG News 5 that “they’re just covering it up” on Alabama beaches. He says he’s been doing cleanup work since June, and on one Gulf Shores area beach, there are 4-inch layers of tar under about 6 feet of [...]
Read More »Congress should pass laws allowing the money to be used for economic and environmental restoration, an Obama-appointed panel says. The money would come from BP and others; it’s unclear how much. Billions of dollars in penalties that the federal government is expected to collect from BP for its role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill should be directed toward restoring the Gulf Coast economy and environment, an advisory group appointed [...]
Read More »BP successfully returned to the bond market on Tuesday, five months after its disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico left investors worrying whether the giant energy company could survive the tens of billions of dollars in cleanup costs and liabilities. A subsidiary, BP Capital Markets, sold $3.5 billion worth of debt in two parts, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters service. The prospectus for the debt issue notes [...]
Read More »NEW ORLEANS – After coming under increasing fire for his handling of the oil spill claims process, Kenneth Feinberg said improvements are coming to the system by the end of the week. Feinberg made the announcement in New Orleans on Tuesday, during an an unpublicized meeting with area parish presidents. Eyewitness News was there exclusively and spoke with Feinberg and the parish presidents after the meeting ended. “They [the parish [...]
Read More »Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen continued his months-long BP-Big Oil job interview this week. He actually told the Presidential Commission investigating the spill that a “third party” should represent future spillers to eliminate “… the perception that the responsible party is intimately involved in the response,” which he said raises questions about who is in charge. Questions? For many of us down here on the Gulf, there has never [...]
Read More »GULF SHORES, Alabama – After hearing reports of more oil off the coast of Gulf Shores we took to the air again to see what might be out there. The first area we wanted to check was Little Lagoon Pass. We had seen a video that looked like oil coming out of the pass. It’s more like algae discolored the water that is flowing into the Gulf. All along the [...]
Read More »LONDON (AP) – BP’s incoming chief executive on Wednesday announced a new unit to monitor safety throughout the oil company’s operations, starting work to restore the company’s battered reputation two days before officially becoming CEO. Bob Dudley also announced that he was breaking up BP’s exploration and production, or upstream, business into three divisions. Andy Inglis, the man now in charge of upstream, is leaving the company. The new safety [...]
Read More »WASHINGTON – Meanwhile, the Justice Department says the White House is not in settlement talks with BP over fines for the oil, despite earlier reports. Today, a congressman from Louisiana said he heard of the talks, which would avoid a costly legal battle. BP is still the target of criminal and civil investigations for the April 20th rig explosion that killed eleven workers and leaked 206 million gallons of oil [...]
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