The Coast Guard has stopped 59 ships from traversing a closed stretch of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico Thursday while hundreds of workers tackled the difficult task of cleaning up about 400,000 gallons of heavy oil that spilled when a barge and tanker collided.

Crews are cleaning more than 400,000 gallons of oil from a closed stretch of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.

A “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned.

The Bush administration on Tuesday proposed charging energy companies wanting to squeeze oil out of vast shale deposits in the West lower royalties than they pay for drilling on other federal lands, including offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

Oil prices fell below $130 a barrel Tuesday with major producers such as Royal Dutch Shell saying Tropical Storm Dolly would not likely disrupt operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices held near $131 a barrel Tuesday on expectations Tropical Storm Dolly won’t disrupt oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices fell Tuesday in Asia on expectations Tropical Storm Dolly won’t disrupt oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices fell Tuesday in Asia on expectations Tropical Storm Dolly won’t disrupt oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

A hurricane warning has been issued for parts of the Texas and Mexico coasts as Tropical Storm Dolly churns through the Gulf of Mexico.