Energy & Fuel

"The Gulf of Mexico rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed the nation's worst offshore oil spill also led to criminal charges against four BP employees, who faced prison time if convicted. But the Justice Department's decision to drop manslaughter charges against two BP rig supervisors makes it increasingly likely that nobody will spend a day behind bars for crimes associated with the deadly disaster."

"A sweeping package from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, likely to clear the chamber this week, has become the latest vehicle for repeal of the crude export ban and speeding the permitting process for projects like Keystone XL."

"LOS ANGELES -- The head of Southern California Gas Co said it would take at least three more months to plug a massive underground leak of natural gas that has been seeping into the air since mid-October and now accounts for a quarter of the state's entire methane emissions."

"The Obama administration is threatening to veto a House bill overhauling federal energy policy."

"A federal judge ordered Anadarko Petroleum Corp to pay a $159.5 million civil fine reflecting its stake in the Gulf of Mexico well where a 2010 blowout caused the largest U.S. offshore oil spill."

"The dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism published a letter on Tuesday strongly disputing accusations by Exxon Mobil that journalists from the school had produced inaccurate and misleading articles about the company’s knowledge of the risks of climate change."

"The Environmental Protection Agency released its much-delayed biofuel mandate on Monday, raising the amounts of biofuel that refiners are required to blend into conventional vehicle fuel from levels proposed in May."

"A proposal to build the largest oil train terminal in the Pacific Northwest could result in a derailment every two years and an oil spill from a derailment once every 12, according to a draft analysis by a Washington state agency."

"Companies that report their hydraulic fracturing chemicals to FracFocus have become less forthcoming since 2013, finds a study of 96,000 disclosures."