The keys to vast reserves of oil off the coast of Alaska may have been handed to Shell this week after President Barack Obama's administration granted it provisional permission to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort Sea's frigid waters despite fierce opposition from environmentalists.

Outlook Having got himself embroiled in an embarrassing debacle in Russia, Bob Dudley is understandably reluctant to countenance other hasty decisions on strategy at BP, and investors should be grateful rather than grumbly about that.

BP posted lower than expected profits today in a further sign of the pressure on the firm as it looks to reverse its fortunes in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

BP has reported another pipe- line leak at its Alaskan oilfields, frustrating the oil giant's attempts to rebuild its reputation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP has written to the US regulator setting out new deepwater drilling standards based on lessons learned from last year's fatal Deepwater Horizon disaster

Spike Lee is in negotiations to direct a remake of 'Oldboy'.

Meteorologists have always emphasised the difference between climate and weather, summing up the distinction by saying that "climate is what you expect, whereas weather is what you get".

Claims that its final bill for the Gulf of Mexico tragedy is being hugely overestimated failed to stop BP sinking last night, as oil prices plummeted after the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed it was releasing 60m barrels from its reserves.

The owner of the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year has largely blamed oil giant BP for the disaster.

The converted jet swoops up and down across the entire Pacific, collecting thousands of air samples for analysis

Three Greenpeace activists yesterday climbed up an oil rig off Greenland's coast in an attempt to stop a Scottish oil company from starting deepwater drilling in arctic waters, the environmental group said.

A fish with arm-like fins; a two-inch leech with oversized jaws found living in a man's nose and a type of rust-eating microbe making a slow meal of the wreck of the Titanic are among the "top 10 new species" discovered in 2010, scientists announced yesterday.

BP secured a significant victory yesterday when one of its partners in the Macondo oil well at the centre of the Gulf of Mexico spill agreed to pay $1.1bn (£678m) to settle legal claims between the two companies, putting pressure on the British oil giant's other partners to make similar moves.