Houston Ship Channel traffic is still at a standstill with more than 100 vessels waiting to either enter or leave the port.  The collision that released more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil is still threatening wildlife there and officials are unclear as to when the channel will be opened to traffic again.

Today is the 25^th anniversary of one of the worst maritime oil spill disasters of all time, the Exxon Valdez.  People everywhere, but especially Alaskans, are remembering the day that changed the lives for many in Prince William Sound forever.

Even as a district court judge’s ruling in Nebraska has put the Keystone Pipeline on hold temporarily, most Nebraska landowners know that it is inevitably coming their way.  Ronal Weber, 69 years old and retired, is one such landowner.

Even as the conflict in the Ukraine accelerates, natural gas prices remain stable for ample supply.  Unusually high levels of gas supply in Europe means that even if there are disruptions in LNG output, it should not send gas prices through the roof.

While record-low temps all across the US, especially the Northeast, drove up heating fuel prices this winter, natural gas prices may actually come in right around expectations.  Still, spending on heating fuels were up across the board, this in a new report from the Energy Information Administration.

Attempts by Libyan rebels to sell oil on the open market was thwarted when US Navy SEALs boarded the oil tanker Morning Glory.  This was the first known attempt by rebels to sell oil on their own, bypassing the central government there.

US Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is urging Secretary of State John Kerry to push through the approval of the Keystone Pipeline during the upcoming Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS).

Brazilian Petrobas, the world’s 7^th largest energy company, announces the beginning of the 7^th round of its Fleet Renewal Plan for Offshore Support Vessels.  The announcements was made by Petrobras President Maria das Graças Silva Foster and the Director of Exploration and Production, José Formigli.  The two highlighted the importance for the company to increase oil production all the way to 2018.

Canada is looking to speed up the phase-out of its older railcar tankers.  These are railcars that are flawed and scheduled for retirement from the fleet.  Transport Minister Lisa Raitt is looking to retire the cars ahead of proposed US timetables.

It’s hard to believe that one of the main components in the recent shale boom, horizontal drilling (HDD), has only been around for a few short decades.  HDD has many advantages, both economical and environmental too.  Through HDD technologies, officials can avoid costly and time-consuming shutdowns of both public and private properties as well.

North Dakota is booming with wells in the Bakken, but the increase in gas flaring is bringing discussions of stricter regulations. The debate has been so severe in fact that 10 class action lawsuits have been filed against oil companies for lost royalties.

Everyone in the business knows that the US oil boom is in full swing.  But full swing or not, still most experts agree that oil drilling in America is still just getting started.  The total number of drilling rigs in the US skyrocketed last week to 1443.  That’s the highest it’s been since 1987.  1987 is the first year that separate rigs started being counted.

Teekay Offshore announces that it has made an agreement to purchase ALP Maritime Services.  The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014 and has been approved already by the board of directors of both companies.

Saying that its investors are looking for some kind of certainty, Woodside Petroleum officials are now pressing the energy giant Royal Dutch Shell to take action on its $6.6 billion stake in the company.

ExxonMobil says it will begin production on ten new major projects in 2014.  The company believes this will add as much as 300 mbopd, this according to Chairm and CEO Rex Tillerson.

BP (British Petroleum), has been notified by a federal appeals court that it must stick to the settlement amount of $9.2 billion for damages caused in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill back in 2010. The company had appealed on grounds that a claims administrator had read the deal wrong.  The judge has ruled that the settlement amount will stand.

Natural gas prices declined last week as the Henry Hub price moved down to $4.61.  That’s a decrease of 25 percent.  The price for US Natural Gas was also down.  Gas extraction moved down below the 5-year average.

STW Energy announces that it has expanded its operations in the Eagle Ford Shale play.  The company has added additional crews and equipment in its Permian Basin field of operations.