Spill documentary 'The Big Fix' screens in Cannes

CANNES, France (AP) — A provocative documentary screened Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival argues that the human and environmental devastation of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been covered up by authorities eager to return to business as usual.

"The Big Fix," by husband-and-wife American directors Josh and Rebecca Tickell, features interviews with Louisiana fishing families whose livelihoods and health have been hit by the spill, then expands into a sweeping critique of American capitalism.

Big Oil struggles with image problem over Gulf spill and high gas prices

As the global offshore oil and gas industry meets in Houston this week, leaders say they are aware the reputation of their business is still bruised after the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and that motorists and politicians are fuming over $4 gasoline prices. But they cautioned Washington against overreaching with new regulation and taxes, stressing the enormity of the challenge ahead in meeting the world's surging energy needs.

"We cannot afford to have emotions control business and policy decisions," Zuhair Hussain, vice president of Saudi Aramco's drilling and workover unit, said during a panel discussion Tuesday at the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference.

 

BP Fined $25 million for 2006 Alaska spills

The British oil company at the center of last year's Gulf of Mexico spill will pay a $25 million penalty for the largest oil spill ever on Alaska's North Slope and spend an additional $60 million upgrading its oversight of corroded pipelines in Alaska.