New Orleans is in the stink again. Since last night, people from all over the metro area have been reporting a strong oil or chemical smell. "What the hell is that smell? Is there a chemical plant on fire?" New Orleanian Trey Monaghan tweeted to NoDef this morning. At this point, authorities don't know what the hell that smell is, according to a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Environmental Quality. But officials have been working since early this morning to get a handle on the source.

The abandoned oil well off Plaquemines Parish that began leaking after being hit by a boat last week has been brought under control. Well owners Swift Energy said the flow of oil was stanched just after 3 p.m. Thursday. Wild Well Control brought the well under control after a barge carrying specialized equipment arrived. The well was shut down by Houston-based Swift Energy in 2007.

As the feds are entering the final stages of meting out punishment for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the depths of the Gulf of Mexico kicked up an uncontrolled flow of gas once again. This time, however, the blowout preventer worked. On Feb. 5, a drilling well owned by Apache Corp. took a "kick" - or rush of natural gas into the drill pipe.

On the same day Transocean settled for a record $1 billion and admitted guilt over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, another offshore oil company and the feds hit on a settlement with one less zero but a lot more creativity. W&T Offshore agreed to a $1 million penalty for running water samples that were subject to pollution tests through coffee filters to collect the oil and other pollutants, and disguise the dirtiness of their discharge.

In the Gulf, sheen appears once again to be winning - at least for now. BP's underwater robots recently completed their latest mission back to the bottom of the Gulf, and this time they came up empty. The ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) were looking for the source of the latest mystery oil sheen that has persistently hovering about the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon since November, but found nothing on their expedition, which ended Saturday.

One of the four Filipino guest workers who was being treated for burns sustained in last Friday's Gulf oil platform fire died from his injuries, according to the office Washington, D.C.-based Embassy of the Philippines. Avelino L. Tajonera, 49, died early Friday morning at the Baton Rouge General Hospital burn unit. The 49-year-old welder from Bataan, The Phillippines, was one of two workers remaining listed in critical condition following the Nov. 16 explosion and fire.

Updated 7:30 p.m.

Not even 24 hours after BP admitted guilt for the Big Oozy, another oil facility explosion and fire was reported in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Plaquemines Parish officials, the explosions was reported at a shallow water platform owned by Black Elk Energy about 25 miles off Grand Isle at 9:15 a.m., and the Coast Guard dispatched crews to put out the fire. Two people are missing, according to the Coast Guard. It was previously reported that 

by Chase Lowenstein

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that new Deepwater Horizon oil was in the Gulf. An oil sheen, first reported Sept. 16, has been lingering for almost a month now with still no details on size or exact content.

by Chase Lowenstein

Once again, the U.S. Coast Guard is scrambling to make sense of recent releases of oil in the Gulf. The source of the latest sheen, which appeared near the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, remains a mystery. But the USCG is investigating the oil to attempt to determine the cause.

BP isn't the only oil company looking for new places to drill in the Gulf. One company based on the Gulf Coast made a multi-billion dollar purchase today, too. EPL Oil and Gas, Inc. is looking to nearly double their production in the Gulf with a $550 million purchase from Hillcorp. The crude-rich, shallow-water tracts which are located in the Central Gulf of Mexico, are currently producing about 10,000 barrels of oil per day.