OIL SPILL

A U.S. appeals court said on Thursday it would rule by early next week on whether to stay a lower court decision to lift a six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling imposed by the Obama administration.

Researchers have discovered two previously unknown species of bottom-dwelling fish in the Gulf of Mexico, living right in the area affected by the BP oil spill.

The Obama administration said on Thursday it will immediately issue a revised ban on deepwater drilling if an appeals court does not allow it to reinstate the six-month moratorium it imposed in the wake of the BP oil spill.

The Obama administration headed to court on Thursday to fight for the moratorium on deepwater drilling it imposed in response to the BP oil spill, while the British oil giant sought to dampen talk it could stop its gushing well this month.

Stocks rose on Thursday after several top U.S. retail chains reported better-than-expected sales in June and new claims for jobless benefits fell more than forecast.

BP dampened hopes that it could plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico well sooner than forecast on Thursday, while a battle between the U.S. government and the oil industry over a deepwater drilling ban heads to court.

BP is aiming to plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico well by July 27, weeks sooner than forecast, according to a newspaper report on Thursday, while a battle between the U.S. government and the oil industry over a deepwater drilling ban heads to court.

The Obama administration heads to court on Thursday with a single goal -- to reinstate a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling imposed in response to the BP Plc oil spill but blocked by a federal judge.

Besieged energy giant BP Plc aims to fix its leaking Gulf oil well by July 27, ahead of its earlier target of mid-August, to show investors it has limited its burgeoning oil spill liabilities, the Wall Street Journal said, citing company officials.

The oil drilling industry goes head-to-head with the Obama administration in court on Thursday over the White House effort to suspend deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for six months in the wake of the catastrophic BP Plc well blowout.

The U.S. offshore oil drilling ban will reduce crude output by an average of 82,000 barrels per day next year, more than previously estimated, the government's top energy forecaster said on Wednesday.

Unnamed Saudi investors seek to buy a stake worth 10 to 15 percent in British oil company BP dealing with a massive U.S. oil spill, a Saudi newspaper said in an unsourced report on Wednesday.

Drilling of a relief well to halt the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a week ahead of schedule, the U.S. official overseeing the response to the disaster said on Tuesday.

BP Plc said on Tuesday that it could cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill without selling new shares, despite reports it was talking to government-owned funds in the Middle East about buying a stake to ward off takeover attempts.

British oil company BP has approached sovereign wealth funds with a view to securing a strategic investor to fend off takeover bids while it deals with its massive U.S. oil spill, a senior UAE source said on Tuesday.

BP ruled out a share issue and talk persisted of sovereign wealth fund interest in the British oil major, boosting its shares on Tuesday even as its Gulf of Mexico oil slick spread to the Texas coast.

(Corrects in fourth paragraph to say a 122 million share holding, not a value of $122 million)

British oil company BP has approached sovereign wealth funds with a view to securing a strategic investor to fend off takeover bids while it deals with its massive U.S. oil spill, a senior UAE source said on Tuesday.

Shareholders in BP balked on Monday at reports the energy giant would seek a strategic investor to ward off takeover bids while the company's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spread.

Shareholders in BP balked Monday at reports it would seek a strategic investor to ward off takeover bids, as the clean-up costs of its massive U.S. oil spill topped $3 billion.

Internecine civil wars are underway almost everywhere within the West, and most virulently in the United States of America. They are not yet kinetic wars, but wars of grinding prepositioning, the kind which lead to foregone conclusions without a shot being fired. They are wars of survival, nonetheless, because the basic architecture for national strength is being altered incrementally or dramatically. And, in many cases, consciously.