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Ken E. Arnold, Senior project manager and Paul SKoszela, Senior engineering consultant, Paragon Engineering Services, Inc., Houston SAFETY OF PRODUCING operations on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is defined [...]

Byline: Evan Thomas and Daniel Stone The flow of oil may soon end, but the political and environmental fallout is just getting started. The blowout preventer looks like a five-story [...]

More than 90 percent of the about 19,500 penguins affected by an oil spill in Robben Island off South Africa in June 2000 survived. Despite the efforts of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, many birds have been afflicted with diminished breeding success. Implications of these events on birds affected by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill are discussed.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco suggested that main concerns for volunteers, fishermen, and cleanup workers in the Gulf Coast area include air quality, skin irritation, and mental health. Precautions are recommended for more than 300 workers who reported symptoms attributed to the release of volatile organic compounds from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Possible economic implications of the oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico on Vision Bank, a subsidiary of Park National Corp., are discussed. The environmental catastrophe caused by the oil spill in tourism-heavy Southeast U.S. could aggravate Vision's economic troubles caused by the imploding housing market. How Park National has responded to the oil spill's potential implications is discussed.

Houston, Texas-based Cobalt International Energy Inc. has invoked a force majeure provision contained in a Gulf of Mexico drilling contract. Cobalt's action follows the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The force majeure provision frees parties involved in a rig operation of liability and Cobalt's action might set a precedent for other companies.