The US Environmental Protection Agency published a final regulation on Nov. 10 that amends certain requirements for facilities subject to its Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule.

US Chemical Safety Board Chairman John S. Bresland urged more states to adopt the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ pressure vessel code to reduce the number of catastrophic accidents resulting from pressure vessel failures.

Oil and gas producers have agreed to extend funding of a joint industry program (JIP) to support research into learning more about how sounds generated by upstream oil and gas activities affect marine life.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Texaco Inc., which Chevron Corp. acquired in 2001, to assess soil and ground water contamination and evaluate additional cleanup options for the Pacific Coast Pipeline Superfund site in Fillmore, Calif.

The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a proposed fine of $87.4 million against BP Products North America Inc., saying the company failed to correct safety problems at its Texas City, Tex., refinery following a March 2005 explosion.

The US Environmental Protection Agency fined Chaparral Energy LLC and Hunt Oil Co. for separate Clean Water Act violations, the federal regulator’s Dallas office said on Oct. 21.

A climate change litigation threat appears to be looming for the oil and gas industry in the wake of a US Supreme Court decision allowing the regulation of greenhouse gases as air pollutants.

Australia’s oil and gas industry expects within days to stop an oil leak from Montara field in the Timor Sea off Western Australia, said the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association.

A US District Court in Manhattan found ExxonMobil Corp. liable for contaminating New York City’s ground water with methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and awarded the city $104.7 million in damages, New York City officials said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency fined Sheridan Production Co. LLC $3,000 for violating the federal Clean Water Act.

Shell Guam Inc. agreed to pay $30,590 to settle charges that it violated a federal environmental law by not submitting required toxic chemical reports, the US Environmental Protection Agency said on Oct. 5.

The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations on Sept. 30 that would subject refineries and other large industrial operations to greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation under the Clean Air Act while exempting smaller businesses and farms.

Frontier Refining Inc. illegally stored hazardous waste in a wastewater management pond at its Cheyenne, Wyo., facility, the US Environmental Protection Agency charged.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released a draft proposal to govern potential natural gas drilling activities in the Marcellus shale, specifically horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

Energy efficiency and research and development into other forms of energy are crucial to address rising carbon emissions from foosil fuels, which will continue to play a major role in the world’s energy mix, urged Paolo Scaroni, chief executive officer of Eni SPA.