BP succeeded yesterday in connecting a 4" pipe to the broken riser to siphon oil and gas from the leaking Macondo well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico's surface.

The oil and gas are moving up the pipe to the Discoverer Enterprise drillship and to barges. This morning in an interview on NBC's Today Show, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles reported that the pipe was recovering about 1,000 barrels of oil/gas mixture per day, but could collect substantially more.

"We're looking to optimize this over the next couple of days to try to produce as much oil and gas as we can," Ken Wells, BP's senior vice president for exploration and production said at a news conference Sunday. (The Miami Herald)

The pipe, called an insertion tube, works like a straw. To keep it from plugging with methane g... more »

A "big deal." That's how Energy Secretary Steven Chu described shale gas at a conference this week, adding that "gas will be the transition fuel as we go to renewables." (NGI's Daily Gas Price Index)

Sec. Chu is just one of many observers who say that natural gas produced from U.S. shale formations could change America's energy landscape.

Daniel Yergin of IHS CERA calls it a "game changer." Philip Sharp, president of Resources for the Future, calls it a "tremendous boon" to the U.S. natural gas supply. (NGI's Daily Gas Price Index)

According to estimates, today's natural gas supplies could meet America's needs for 100 years, based on the current consumption rate.

In fact, natural gas supplies are so abundant, ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO James J. Mulva says it's much more than a bridge... more »