OIL SPILL

Some 31 million U.S. television viewers tuned in to see President Barack Obama lead a memorial tribute to victims of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, according to TV ratings provider Nielsen.

BP Plc, which is tormented by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has witnessed a positive development last week when Presidential Commission did not find BP solely responsible for the oil spill.

Better management of oil industry-related companies BP, Halliburton and Transocean could have almost certainly prevented an underwater oil rig blowout last year that led to the largest ever U.S. oil spill, a presidential panel concluded in its final report.

Shares of Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) are dropping this morning after a report by a presidential commission into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from last year spread the blame to various parties, not only BP plc (NYSE: BP).

Shares in BP Plc and Transocean shrugged off a scathing report from U.S. Presidential panel which blamed the United States' worst ever oil spill on risky decisions the companies made.

BP and its partners made a series of cost-cutting decisions that ultimately contributed to the oil spill that ravaged the Gulf of Mexico coast over the summer, the White House oil spill commission said on Wednesday.

BP and its partners made a series of cost-cutting decisions that ultimately contributed to the oil spill that ravaged the Gulf of Mexico coast over the summer, the White House oil spill commission said on Wednesday.

Shares of BP plc (NYSE: BP) have leapt today partially on a report in the UK newspaper Daily Mail that Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) may be interested in merging the two global oil giants.

Shares in oil major BP hit a six-month high on Tuesday after reports rival Royal Dutch Shell considered a takeover bid, and that economic damages from its oil spill will be lower than forecast.

Many investment banks and commodity analysts have taken a highly bullish stance on crude oil prices for 2011, based largely on economic recovery in the U.S., continued money-printing by the Federal Reserve (thereby, weakening U.S. dollar) and persistent high demand from the emerging markets, particularly China and India.

Baldwin sues Costner for misleading in a business deal based on oil-spill cleaning technology

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil lawsuit against energy giant BP Exploration and Production Inc. and eight other companies, accusing them of violating the Clean Water Act and has asked the court to hold them liable without limitation under the Oil Pollution Act for all removal costs and damages caused by the oil spill, including damages to natural resources.

The explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in Macondo early this year was no less than a cut on the oil industry's artery, out of which gushed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico - a tragedy that devastated the Gulf Coast ecosystem, paralyzed an oil behemoth and thwarted the Big Oil's prospects by attracting a moratorium on deepwater drilling and a crippling regulatory environment.

The U.S. sued BP and eight other defendants on Wednesday over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mex ico, seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act.

(Following Justice Department correction, makes clear Lloyds was Transocean's insurer, not BP's, in paragraph 2)

Google has released its year-end search report - Zeitgeist 2010. Among the personalities and events that figure on search trends list are Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Oil Spill, World Cup, Haiti Earthquake and more.

BP Oil Spill, FIFA World Cup, Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, iPhone are among the top searches in 2010, according to the Yahoo's 'Year in Review' report which tallies hot searches on a variety of lists.

A U.K. industry taskforce has called on the British government to act now to protect the economy against a potential new threat of rising oil prices.

Visits to the state of Florida rose in the third quarter of 2010 despite the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Commercial and recreational fishing may resume as close as 10 miles from the wellhead of the former Deepwater Horizon oil rig, federal officials said on Monday.

The lowest dissolved oxygen measured in the Gulf of Mexico areas was 3.5 parts per million, which is above hypoxic levels, the report said.