Oil giant BP announced its first annual loss for nearly two decades on Saturday Feb. 5, 2011, dragged down by a whopping US$41 billion ($54 billion) charge to pay for the Gulf of Mexico disaster last year which unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in history.

Despite fourth-quarter profits of US$4.4 billion, the company recorded an annual loss of US$4.6 billion, compared with profits of US$14 billion in 2009. Read more »

Alaska lawmakers introduced legislation Friday Feb. 4, 2011 to abandon a centerpiece of former Gov. Sarah Palin's administration: a state-sanctioned effort to advance a major natural gas pipeline.

The measure sponsored by at least five Republican representatives underscored the impatience and skepticism that many lawmakers have expressed about the current process and a belief the state is no closer than it was several years ago to realizing the long-hoped-for line. Read more »

Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes' BJ Services are among 12 oil and gas companies using diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing, potentially violating the law, three U.S. House Democrats said. Read more »