Minerals Management Service

Energy companies put out $949.3 million in high bids for offshore leases. With oil prices up $30 a barrel from last year, energy companies issued $949.3 million in winning bids Wednesday for federal offshore petroleum leases off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Report: Key Cape Wind review rushed at end of Bush years, but conclusions are still sound. Federal agencies who were part of a key review of a proposed wind farm off Cape Cod felt rushed to finish it before the end of the Bush presidency, according to a government report released Wednesday.

A federal inspector general's investigation into the Minerals Management Service's environmental review of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm has concluded that several federal agencies felt ``unnecessarily rushed'' to finish their contributions to the report, although no agency believed its overall conclusions changed as a result. The US Department of the Interior's Office of Inspector General also found that the Minerals Management Service's January 2009 final environmental review, which was largely favorable toward the Cape Wind project, did not include the most current findings about the impact on air traffic. The Federal Aviation Administration had determined that the 130 proposed wind turbines, soaring more than 400 feet above the ocean, would be a ``presumed hazard'' to aircraft, but the report used an outdated FAA finding that determined there was no hazard. The Interior Department, of which the Minerals Management Service is a part, released a statement saying the inspecto

A federal inspector general's investigation into the Minerals Management Service's environmental review of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm has concluded that several federal agencies felt ``unnecessarily rushed'' to finish their contributions to the report, although no agency believed its overall conclusions changed as a result. The US Department of the Interior's Office of Inspector General also found that the Minerals Management Service's January 2009 final environmental review, which was largely favorable toward the Cape Wind project, did not include the most current findings about the impact on air traffic. The Federal Aviation Administration had determined that the 130 proposed wind turbines, soaring more than 400 feet above the ocean, would be a ``presumed hazard'' to aircraft, but the report used an outdated FAA finding that determined there was no hazard. The Interior Department, of which the Minerals Management Service is a part, released a statement saying the Inspecto

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia's two U.S. senators on Wednesday urged the Obama administration to carry out a previous plan to lease almost 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) in federal waters off the state's coastline to oil and natural gas companies.

Alaska Natives, environmental groups file legal challenge to Chukchi offshore drilling. A coalition of Alaska Natives combined forces Wednesday with some of the heaviest hitters in the environmental community to challenge a plan by Shell Oil to drill off northwest Alaska.

Mass. unveils landmark ocean-management plan, Sets new limits for offshore wind farm projects. Massachusetts has released the final version of a landmark ocean-management plan, creating a vast regulatory map for the state's coastal waters and setting new limits for offshore wind farms.

AP Interview: Interior Secretary Salazar ends 1st year, vows more reforms, initiatives. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar started on the job a year ago pledging to clean up an agency hit by scandals and assailed by critics as under the sway of the oil and gas industry.

Alaska whalers, environmental groups sue to block proposed 2010 Beaufort Sea oil drilling. Native Alaskan groups who depend on whaling and a coalition of environmental groups sued the federal government Tuesday, seeking to block a Shell Oil subsidiary from drilling next year in the Beaufort Sea.

Federal government nets $111.4 million in sale of energy leases off the coast of Texas. The federal government has accepted $111.4 million in high bids for 155 offshore energy leases off the coast of Texas.

Interior secretary approves Shell Oil exploration plan for certain Chukchi Sea leases. The Minerals Management Service on Monday conditionally approved plans by Shell Oil Co. to drill three exploratory wells next year in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast.

At oil company's request, Obama administration delays decision on Alaska offshore drilling. The Obama administration has delayed a decision on a request by Shell Oil Co. to drill for oil and gas in Alaska's rugged Chukchi Sea. The delay came after the oil company asked for time to respond to criticism of its plan to drill in the icy sea, a prime habitat for threatened polar bears.

36 million acres to be offered at offshore lease sale for central Gulf. The federal Interior Department is putting up nearly 36 million offshore acres for the annual sale of petroleum leases in the Central Gulf of Mexico.

World oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday as traders awaited the latest weekly snapshot of US energy inventories, analysts said.

Crude prices fall again as dollar gains ground and Ida loses steam. Oil prices fell Tuesday as workers headed back to deep sea platforms that were bypassed by a rapidly weakening storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Ida dwindled to a tropical depression on Tuesday after crawling ashore in Alabama from the Gulf of Mexico, and oil operations in the Gulf were returning to normal after being widely disrupted by the storm.

Delay ahead for Cape Wind as Mass. commission says study needed of tribes' claim on sound. The nation's first offshore wind farm faces more delay after a top Massachusetts historic preservation officer said that two Indian tribes' claim to Nantucket Sound needed more study.

Massachusetts' top historic preservation officer has dealt a setback to the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, ruling yesterday that the body of water is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places because of its cultural significance for two Native American tribes. In a letter released late in the afternoon, Brona Simon, state historic preservation officer, said she believes that Nantucket Sound is so culturally important to two Wampanoag tribes that it should be listed on the National Register as a traditional cultural property. Her decision conflicts with an earlier conclusion by the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency that led the environmental review of the Cape Wind project. Now, the head of the National Register will have to determine whether the property is eligible to be listed, a process that could ultimately delay the project's approval by up to a year, federal and state officials have said. A listing would not necessarily stop the project,

Proposed Cape Cod wind farm could snag on tribes' claim turbines would ruin ancient ritual. From a blustery perch over a Cape Cod beach, Chuckie Green gestures toward a stretch of horizon where he says construction of the nation's first offshore wind farm would destroy his Indian tribe's religion.

Proposed Cape Cod wind farm could hit snag on tribes' claim turbines would ruin ancient ritual. From a blustery perch over a Cape Cod beach, Chuckie Green gestures toward a stretch of horizon where he says construction of the nation's first offshore wind farm would destroy his Indian tribe's religion.