NEW YORK (Reuters) – For Calgary-based TransCanada, a recent Michigan oil spill from a pipeline operated by its rival Enbridge Inc couldn’t have come at a worse time.

The spill threatens to tilt public opinion against TransCanada’s $12 billion pipeline system that could ultimately stretch from Alberta to Texas.

NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Scrutiny into the biggest
pipeline leak in recent U.S. history may delay a restart of
Enbridge Inc.’s (ENB.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 6B supply line that feeds refineries
in Michigan, Ohio and southern Canada, officials and industry
sources said on Tuesday.

The unexplained rupture of Enbridge’s 190,000
barrel-per-day 6B pipeline on July 26 spewed between 800,000
and 1 million gallons into a Michigan creek that feeds the
Kalamazoo River.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil giant BP Plc rejected a request from Texas for a $25 million cash advance to clean up shorelines sullied by the Gulf oil spill, and got a scathing response from top Texas officials, according to letters given to Reuters on Thursday.

BP denied a July 5 request from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for a $25 million “block grant,” similar to cash advances for clean up that BP gave to all other Gulf Coast states, the letter from BP to Abbott showed.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Thursday as the dollar weakened to a 12-week low against the euro, boosting demand for oil priced in dollars, and after European data showed eurozone economic sentiment has improved.

Oil prices rose in spite of a volatile day in U.S. stock markets, in which equities gained early, then dipped in afternoon trade before closing slightly higher. .N

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell by 1.9 percent on Tuesday after data showed U.S. consumer confidence plunged to its lowest level in five months, prompting investors to sell off riskier assets including oil and equities.

The confidence index fell in July to the lowest level since February on worries about a stagnant job market in the world’s top economy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil steadied near $79 a barrel on Monday as stronger U.S. home sales stoked economic optimism, while oil output was restored in the Gulf of Mexico after Tropical Storm Bonnie passed uneventfully.

U.S. crude for September delivery settled unchanged at $78.98 a barrel.

Oil prices briefly reached $79.60 a barrel on Friday, an 11-week high for front-month crude, as offshore producers evacuated platforms and shut in output to brace for Tropical Storm Bonnie.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy companies in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday were closely monitoring a tropical depression that could become a storm as it crosses the region, with some pulling workers from offshore platforms.

Tropical Depression 3, which is not expected to reach hurricane strength, formed on Thursday near the Bahamas and is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm by Thursday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – BP Plc said on Tuesday it sold its Cushing, Oklahoma, oil tanks, a major tool of its renowned trading arm, in its first asset sale since the Macondo well blowout saddled it with multibillion-dollar liabilities.

The oil major will lease back the 7.8 million barrels of tank storage space at Cushing for several years from Magellan Midstream Partners LP, which acquired the tanks as part of a larger $339 million transaction, including some of BP’s existing oil inventories.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Obama administration may succeed in pushing through its offshore drilling ban, despite fierce resistance from the oil industry, since a piece of machinery in short supply has left oil companies and the environment glaringly vulnerable to another oil spill.

The offshore skimming devices — seagoing vessels that suck up spilled crude — are the first line of defense in the contingency plans that big oil companies are required to submit when they drill in the deep waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Obama administration may succeed in pushing through its offshore drilling ban, despite fierce resistance from the oil industry, since a piece of machinery in short supply has left oil companies and the environment glaringly vulnerable to another oil spill.

The offshore skimming devices — seagoing vessels that suck up spilled crude — are the first line of defense in the contingency plans that big oil companies are required to submit when they drill in the deep waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.