A Brazilian judge dropped criminal charges against Chevron Corp., drilling contractor Transocean Ltd., and 17 of their employees regarding a November 2011 offshore oil seep in the Campos basin involving Frade field although a civil suit against the companies remains pending.

A collaboration involving Utah’s Division of Air Quality, county governments in eastern Utah, researchers from Utah State University, and the Western Energy Alliance has produced the first study of wintertime ozone formation conditions and characteristics in the Uinta basin.

Canadians are ready to defend the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project on a greenhouse gas reduction basis now that opponents have shifted their arguments to that arena, a TransCanada Corp. executive said.

ConocoPhillips received permission to resume full production at Penglai 19-3 oil field in China’s northern Bohai Bay after being sanctioned by the Chinese goverment for oil seeps during 2011, China's State Oceanic Administration said.

Transocean Offshore Inc. pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the 2010 Macondo deepwater well incident and agreed to pay $400 million in criminal fines and penalties, US Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Feb. 14.

The US Government Accountability Office—which has identified areas it believes pose a high risk to federal government operations every 2 years since the early 1990s—added climate change to its list for the first time.

The US Chemical Safety Board said Chevron Corp. was aware of a problem with a corroded pipe before an Aug. 6, 2012, fire at Chevron’s 240,000 b/d Richmond refinery in Martinez, Calif.

A strong majority of US voters favors building the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, a survey commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute found.

US President Barack Obama proposed using some federal oil and gas revenue to fund an energy security trust that would support “research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good.”

The US Department of Justice sued ATP Oil and Gas Corp. and ATP Infrastructure Partners LP for allegedly discharging crude oil and chemical dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP PLC plans to contest claims for oil spill-related damages from the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana and some local governments concerning from the April 2010 blowout of the deepwater Macondo well off Louisiana and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Growing natural gas use has clearly helped reduce US carbon emissions, but it can’t be expected to bring greenhouse gases to desired lower levels, three experts told two National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ committees on Feb. 4.

A 12-year partnership between the US Department of Energy and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is dispelling exaggerated preconceptions about LNG hazards as it identifies possible real problems state policymakers should address.