Content about oil
In an unprecedented decision, the UT System Board of Regents declined part of the University’s recommendation to increase tuition at a meeting Thursday, but did not do so for any other UT System institution. The regents froze tuition for in-state undergraduates for the next two academic years and raised tuition for all other students.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia closed its Cairo embassy Saturday and recalled its ambassador following protests over a detained Egyptian human rights lawyer in a sharp escalation of tension between two regional powerhouses already on shaky terms due to uprisings in the Arab world.
NEW ORLEANS — Federal prosecutors brought the first criminal charges Tuesday in the Gulf oil spill, accusing a former BP engineer of deleting more than 300 text messages that indicated the blown-out well was spewing far more crude than the company was telling the public at the time.
Kurt Mix of Katy, Texas, was arrested and charged with two counts of obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence.
RUBKONA, South Sudan — Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan on Monday, killing at least two people after Sudanese ground forces had reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery, elevating the risk of all-out war between the two old enemies.
The international community urged Sudan and South Sudan to talk out their disputes, which include arguments over where the border lies and over ownership of oil resources.
BARATARIA BAY, La. — Open sores. Parasitic infections. Chewed-up-looking fins. Gashes. Mysterious black streaks. Two years after the drilling-rig explosion that touched off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, scientists are beginning to suspect that fish in the Gulf of Mexico are suffering the effects of the petroleum.
MADRID — Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez is attempting to quell increasing unrest at home and boost her popularity with an “unlawful” bid to nationalize YPF, the Argentine oil unit of Spanish energy firm Repsol, the company’s president claimed Tuesday as the group’s shares plunged more than 7 percent.
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s president said Thursday that the nation will not withdraw its troops that this week entered a disputed border region with Sudan.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir spoke to parliament in the midst of escalating clashes along the border with Sudan. He said the country’s military would also re-enter another disputed area, Abyei, currently occupied by Sudan if the United Nations does not urge Sudan to withdraw.
YAKIMA, Wash. — The federal government will pay more than $1 billion to settle a series of lawsuits brought by American Indian tribes over mismanagement of tribal money and trust lands, under a settlement announced Wednesday.
The agreement resolves claims brought by 41 tribes from across the country to reclaim money lost in mismanaged accounts and from royalties for oil, gas, grazing and timber rights on tribal lands.
Texas is the first state affected by the BP oil spill to use settlement money from a BP investor for habitat conservation efforts, leading to more coastal restoration attempts in the future.
Through music and public speaking, students petitioned Wednesday night for the removal of a 2012 Olympic sponsor responsible for a 1984 tragedy.
UT’s first Jamnesty featured two speakers as well as two musical acts. The event, held on Gregory Plaza from 6 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, was hosted by UT’s chapter of Amnesty International, which is a global organization dedicated to enforcing a standard for human rights worldwide.
USHUAIA, Argentina — Argentina’s president said Monday that she’s asked the International Red Cross to persuade Britain to let its DNA experts identify unknown soldiers buried in the Falkland Islands.
Thirty years after Argentina and Britain went to war over the remote South Atlantic archipelago, Cristina Fernandez says universal human rights demand that both countries work together to give those remains back to their families.
President Barack Obama and the leaders of Canada and Mexico vowed a new effort Monday to boost North American trade — and cut needless regulation that stifles it — in a summit that aimed to shore up a fragile economic recovery.
After a one-day summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama said the United States has trimmed outdated and burdensome rules in talks with both its neighbors.
While looking at both the dashboard of controllers and the horizon ahead, finance junior and student pilot Alex Madison demonstrated decisive judgment and confidence beyond his flying experience as the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport air traffic control tower cleared him for takeoff.
To the delight of its built-in fan base, “The Hunger Games” film, based on the hugely popular sci-fi book series by Suzanne Collins, will hit theaters tomorrow (or tonight, if you’re the type to brave midnight premieres of wildly anticipated movies). In case you’re one of the few who haven’t yet jumped on the “Hunger Games” train, first of all: What’s wrong with you? Get thee to a bookstore!
WASHINGTON — The Senate killed Republican-backed attempts to overturn several of President Barack Obama’s environmental and energy policies Thursday as lawmakers worked against a March 31 deadline to keep aid flowing to more than 100,000 transportation construction projects around the country.
BEIRUT — Syria’s deputy oil minister appeared tense as he looked at the camera and announced in a video that he has defected from President Bashar Assad’s regime, acknowledging he expects government forces to “burn my home” and “persecute my family.”
Abdo Husameddine, a 58-year-old father of four, on Thursday became the highest-ranking civilian official to join the opposition, and he urged his countrymen to “abandon this sinking ship” as the nation spirals toward civil war.
Cooking at home takes time. If you want to eat good food, it can also be expensive, especially on a student’s budget. Dishes are a hassle and your favorite carb- and sugar-laden boxed, canned and otherwise packaged foods are convenient and utilitarian. Heating up frozen taquitos or ordering a pizza are often the most tempting routes when faced with mounds of homework, impending midterms and the desire to just “veg” after a long week.
BENGHAZI, Libya — Tribal leaders and militia commanders declared oil-rich eastern Libya a semiautonomous state on Tuesday, a unilateral move that the interim head of state called a “dangerous” conspiracy by Arab nations to tear the country apart six months after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi.
NEW YORK — BP's multibillion-dollar settlement with people and businesses harmed by its 2010 oil spill removes some uncertainty about the potential financial damages it faces. It also may help the company restore its all-important relationship with the federal government.
Although the oil company still has a few major legal and financial hurdles to overcome nearly two years after the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the tentative settlement with plaintiff’s lawyers sends important signals to investors, Gulf Coast states and federal regulators.
Two weeks ago at the University of Michigan, Tadeusz Patzek, chair of UT’s Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, debated John Hofmeister, former Shell Oil CEO, about how to deal with the diminishing availability of cheap oil.
NEW ORLEANS — On the cusp of trial over the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, phalanxes of lawyers, executives and public officials have spent the waning days in settlement talks. Holed up in small groups inside law offices, war rooms and hotel suites in New Orleans and Washington, they are trying to put a number on what BP and its partners in the doomed Macondo well project should pay to make up for the worst offshore spill in U.S. history.
TEHRAN, Iran — In defiant swipes at its foes, Iran said Wednesday it is dramatically closer to mastering the production of nuclear fuel even as the U.S. weighs tougher pressures and Tehran’s suspected shadow war with Israel brings probes far beyond the Middle East.
Iran further struck back at the West by indicating it was on the verge of imposing a midwinter fuel squeeze to Europe in retaliation for a looming boycott of Iranian oil, but denied reports earlier in the day that six nations had already been cut off.
NEW DELHI — Israel blamed Iran on Monday for bomb attacks on its diplomats’ cars in India and Georgia, heightening concerns that the Jewish state was moving closer to striking its archenemy.
Iran denied responsibility for the attacks that appeared to mirror the recent killings of Iranian nuclear scientists that Tehran blamed on Israel.
The blast in New Delhi set a car ablaze and injured four people, including an Israeli Embassy driver and a diplomat’s wife; the device in Georgia was discovered and safely defused.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s foreign minister expressed optimism Sunday that a visit by U.N. inspectors to Iran’s nuclear facilities would produce an understanding, despite world concerns that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.
The three-day inspection tour by the International Atomic Energy Agency team comes during spiking tension. The West is imposing new sanctions to try to force Iran to slow or halt its nuclear program, and Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passage, in retaliation.
