The oil and gas industry needs to expand its efforts to build the public’s trust, which has been a problem since the industry’s earliest days, panelists told a closing plenary session during the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference & Exhibition in San Diego on Mar. 8.

The US Senate rejected two amendments related to the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project, but accepted one that would direct 80% of fines assessed to BP PLC for the Macondo deepwater well crude oil spill to affected Gulf Coast states as part of the surface transportation bill.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) dispatched a team of investigators on Mar. 6 to the site of a July 19, 2009, hydrocarbon gas release involving hydrofluoric acid (HF) at Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery.

The Center for Offshore Safety, an industry organization formed to enhance Gulf of Mexico deepwater safety and environmental performance, announced Mar. 7 that its executive director is Charlie Williams, who is retiring from Shell Energy Resources.

Oil companies and drilling contractors alike are responsible for convincing the public that industry can drill safety and without causing environmental damage, said panelists during a Mar. 6 plenary session of the IADC/SPE drilling conference in San Diego.

The Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC) said it completed the Gulf of Mexico expansion program known as Deep Blue to respond to an oil spill incident, if necessary, and MRSC has arranged contracts with Edison Chouest Offshore and Hornbeck Offshore Serivces to modify additional equipment.

The American Petroleum Institute urged the federal government to designate a lead agency to ensure that 10 departments and agencies that are considering regulations connected with unconventional oil and gas production don’t create conflicting or duplicative rules.

Government statistics show US federal agencies issued slightly fewer Gulf of Mexico deepwater permits during the last 12 months than in the same period before the April 2010 blowout of BP PLC’s Macondo well and resulting explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible.

MOEX Offshore LLC agreed to pay $90 million to settle its liability in the Macondo deepwater well incident and spill in 2010, the US Department of Justice, Coast Guard, and Environmental Protection Agency jointly announced on Feb. 17.

The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) approved Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc.’s Chukchi Sea oil spill response plan in one of four US Department of the Interior actions aimed at limited exploration in shallow Arctic waters during a limited period this summer.

Enhanced Oil Resources Inc., Houston, has permitted five horizontal 20-acre infill wells in its 4,800-acre Milnesand San Andres Unit in Roosevelt County, NM, where 40-acre development is estimated to have recovered 14% of original oil in place.