BP PLC on Oct. 18 confirmed the integrity of the sealed deepwater Macondo well and its associated relief wells following an extensive subsea survey using a remotely operated vehicle to identify potential sources of a surface sheen near Mississippi Canyon Block 252 off Louisiana.

Analysis of US Geological Survey testing of water samples taken from one of two US Environmental Protection Agency monitoring wells at Pavillion, Wyo., raises questions about the how EPA constructed monitoring wells and tested water samples, an American Petroleum Institute spokesman said.

US House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Republicans raised concerns about the US Environmental Protection Agency’s selection process for a scientific advisory board reviewing the EPA’s study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water prior to its release later this year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies worked hard in the 18 months leading up to the 2012 Arctic offshore drilling season and came away with important lessons when it ended and a better idea of its future needs, a NOAA official told a US Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Oct. 11.

Samples collected from an oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico matched samples of oil that originated from the deepwater Macondo well blowout and resulting spill in 2010 off Louisiana, the US Coast Guard confirmed.

Oil and gas operators seeking licenses to drill offshore Europe would have to prepare major hazard reports and prove they have the financial strength to repair any environmental damage under an offshore safety proposal advancing in the European Parliament.

Policymakers across all levels of US government must guard against unnecessary or duplicative regulations that could impede investments in unconventional oil and gas plays, which already created jobs and boosted revenues for some states, American Petroleum Institute Chief Economist John Felmy said.

Regularly scheduled reviews of offshore oil and gas safety and environmental standards and practices could help assure that the complacency prevalent before the 2010 Macondo deepwater well blowout and subsequent oil spill doesn’t resurface, an environmental organization official suggested.

A Sept. 28 boiler explosion at a Wynnewood, Okla., refinery owned by CVR Energy Inc. of Sugar Land, Tex., killed one worker and critically injured another, a spokeswoman with the US Department of Labor said Oct. 1, adding the incident is under investigation.

Chevron Corp. and drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. have each received injunctions giving them 30 days to stop operating in Brazil stemming from an oil seep in Frade field offshore Brazil during 2011.