As southeasterly winds push oil into the Louisiana marshes today, several government agencies, the Navy, the oil and natural gas industry and wildlife experts are working to protect sensitive habitats.

BP, the company leading the clean-up, also is seeking volunteers to help along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.

Meanwhile, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is sending inspectors to all Gulf exploration rigs in hopes of reducing the possibility of any similar accident. The rigs are inspected regularly by MMS staff, and the Deepwater Horizon was inspected less than two weeks before the accident. Blowout preventers also are tested on a regular basis.

As we've mentioned in this space repeatedly, the oil and natural gas industry is heartsick about the accident, the loss of the 11 missing men, t... more »

Publicly traded energy companies have been announcing their first-quarter earnings.

With 10 companies reporting as of April 28, the oil and natural gas industry is averaging earnings of 7.1 cents per dollar of sales. In comparison, Dow Jones Industrial companies are averaging 10.3 cents per dollar. Eighteen of the 30 Dow Jones companies have reported their first-quarter results.

Reports about oil company earnings have tended to focus on the billions of dollars earned each quarter. The earnings are large because the companies are large. Size is an attribute in the energy field, where publicly traded companies have to compete for energy supplies with government-owned or government-supported companies around the globe.

Furthermore, exploring for and producing energy is an expensive undertaki... more »

An official from BP today indicated that the company is willing to accept help from the U.S. Department of Defense to fight the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP)

Government officials project oil could make landfall in the Mississippi Delta this weekend, and efforts are underway to protect wildlife habitats. So far, 100,000 feet of boom has been positioned along the coastline between Louisiana and Mobile, Ala., another 287,000 feet is available, and an additional 320,000 has been ordered to protect highly sensitive areas.

Yesterday in two news briefings, oil spill responders reported:

• A third leak has been detected in the pipes that connected the Deepwater Horizon to the wellhead prior to the tragic accident.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the spilla... more »

We've told you about the Bakken, Marcellus, Haynesville, Bossier, and other U.S. shale formations that are helping to provide much-needed domestic energy supplies. But have you heard of Eagle Ford?

For many years, this brittle shale formation stretching from Mexico across southern Texas has been known to contain large amounts of oil and natural gas, but wells have not been able to produce commercial quantities of energy through conventional vertical drilling.

Recently, drillers have begun applying horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to the formation and are producing significant amounts of oil, natural gas and high-quality natural gas liquids.

According to the Eagle Ford Shale Blog, the CEO of EOG Resources says the Eagle Ford shale may be one of the biggest U.S. oil discoveries... more »

The oil-spill response workers in the Gulf of Mexico are poised to conduct a controlled burn of the oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon well. Offshore burning can prevent oil from reaching shorelines.

In fact, about 90-98 percent of the oil can be removed from the water by burning, leaving behind a waxy residue that can be skimmed from the surface.

The process is time-tested and quite effective. Since oil is lighter than water, it rises to the surface where it is exposed to oxygen. Response vessels surround portions of the spill using fire-retardant booms, and a device called a fire-starter is used to touch off a controlled fire. The flames produce a plume of dark smoke, but the oil is consumed, greatly diminishing the likelihood of shoreline impacts.

Meanwhile, BP's efforts to use ROVs... more »