Hurricane Sandy’s impact on large parts of New Jersey and the New York City area made for riveting and sobering television, prompting an outpouring of responses – including those from the oil and natural gas industry, including:

• Hess Corporation, ExxonMobil, the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery and the BP Foundation made donations to relief funds in New Jersey and New York, as well as the American Red Cross. In addition Hess offered a matching gift program for employees who wish to make a personal contribution to those relief efforts.
• BP contributed 13 18-wheeler trucks of emergency response supplies (generators, water and other items) to the Salvation Army. In addition, BP provided fuel for emergency response in New York, as well as to ConEd, Verizon and United Water, the northern N... more »

As we mark the one-year anniversary of the Macondo oil well spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it is important that we remember the 11 workers who died in that accident, their families and the communities along the Gulf coast that were most affected by this incident. They remind us that, in our efforts to continuously improve safety in our operations, there can be no let-up. And just as we should not lose sight of what happened that day, we should not minimize our industry's unprecedented response to the accident. And we should remain mindful of our industry's strong safety record, as exemplified by the fact that, before the spill, more than 42,000 offshore wells were drilled safely in the Gulf of Mexico over a span of 60 years.

Our commitment to safety has been the guiding force of our operatio... more »

CBS News is out today with some new and alarming numbers about oil spills. And while we were told that the data compiled by CBS is larger than our figures, it is impossible to comment on the specific findings of the CBS report since we were not allowed to see or analyze the data. We do have some information though on the methodology, and what we do know casts some serious doubts about the reliability of the data.

We were told by CBS producers that its data used various state and national sources. This is concerning as states collect data differently and many reporting mechanisms are unique to each individual state. Additionally, double counting occurs as spills reported in a state are regularly reported at the Federal level also. Finally, there are often preliminary numbers reported during... more »

The U.S. Justice Department filed suit against BP and eight other companies yesterday to recover billions of dollars from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. The administration's suit asks that the companies be held responsible for all cleanup costs and damage to natural resources.

Additional defendants could be added to the suit. "This is an ongoing process," Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference.

Workers clear the beach of Bon Secour Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, Nov. 23, 2010

Image Source: BP

The suit acknowledges, however, that the full extent of damage isn't known. The government estimates that more than 200 million gallons of oil escaped from the well; but BP says the amount could be far less. The oil estimates are a key factor in determining penalties under the Clean Water Act... more »

The lead investigator for the presidential panel examining the Deepwater Horizon accident yesterday said he has found no evidence that anyone involved in the Macondo well took shortcuts to save money.

Fred H. Bartlit Jr. told the commission, "To date we have not seen a single instance where a human being made a conscious decision to favor dollars over safety." His findings disputed the claims of members of Congress and other investigators who have accused BP, Transocean and Halliburton of cutting corners. The Macondo well blowout killed 11 workers and resulted in a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

After hearing Bartlit's preliminary findings into the causes of the accident, Commission co-chairman William Reilly told... more »