Senate Refuses to End Tax Breaks for Big Oil

The Senate blocked a Democratic proposal to strip the five leading oil companies of tax breaks that backers of the measure said were unfairly padding industry profits.

BP Says Spill Settlement Terms Are Too Generous

The planned payments far exceed the extent of likely future damages, the oil company argues.

Size Protects Government Contractors That Stray

As the case of BP illustrates, the largest companies often escape the stiffest penalties because government agencies are too dependent on them.

BP Is Planning to Challenge Estimates of Oil Spill

The move could reduce the company’s liability by billions of dollars, according to documents filed with a presidential panel.

U.S. Won’t End Gulf Drilling Ban

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the administration would rescind its decision to allow offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast.

3 Republicans Say Report on Spill Was Manipulated

Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee accused the White House of editing a report on the BP spill for political ends.

Panel Wants BP Fines to Pay for Gulf Restoration

A group named by President Obama will urge Congress to create a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund to oversee the restoration efforts.

‘Our Job Is Not Finished,’ President Tells Gulf Coast

President Obama on Saturday vowed to maintain an intense government response until the environment is cleaned up and businesses and communities are made whole.

Minerals Service Had a Mandate to Produce Results

The Minerals Management Service has been ridiculed as a pawn of the oil industry it was meant to oversee, and the Gulf Coast office has drawn particular scorn.

BP Used Much Dispersant Despite E.P.A. Directive of Rarely

The Coast Guard approved requests to use dispersants despite an Environmental Protection Agency rule that they be used rarely, a Congressional analysis said.

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