Overseer of BP fund gets his hands dirty

In June, President Obama tapped lawyer Kenneth R. Feinberg, 64, to oversee the $20 billion account funded by BP to compensate victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill, making him the nation's most famous mediator. Every week, Feinberg leaves his Pennsylvania Avenue office, where the walls are adorned with dozens of pictures and news articles chronicling his work, to spend time with fishermen and others who make their living off the coastal waters. In...

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Afghan government awards oil contract in first phase of revenue-generation plan

KABUL - The Afghan government on Monday awarded a small but potentially path-breaking crude oil contract, marking the first phase of an effort that U.S. and Afghan officials say could bring the cash-strapped government significant revenue. The six-month deal for crude from the Angot field in Sar-i-Pol province in Afghanistan's north was designed as a confidence-building venture for one of the world's least-attractive foreign-investment markets....

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BP lawyers say Gulf of Mexico oil spill size is overestimated by government

BP lawyers have said that government estimates of the size of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are too big, perhaps by as much as 20 to 50 percent, signaling a dispute that will determine how many billions of dollars of fines BP will have to pay under the Clean Water Act. The BP attorneys made their comments in an Oct. 21 meeting with staff members of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Priya Aiyar, one...

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