—About 126.3 million gallons of oil has gushed into the Gulf since April 20. That calculation is based on the higher end of the government’s range of barrels leaked per day and the oil company BP’s calculations for the amount of oil siphoned off as of Monday morning. Using the more optimistic end of calculations, the total spill figure is just shy of 68 million gallons.
—Coastal parishes are in line for $24.9 million from the state’s Oil Spill Contingency Fund to help with oil spill response efforts. The spending plans were included in a budget bill that received final passage Sunday night and heads to Gov. Bobby Jindal.
—Companies that ferry people and supplies to offshore oil rigs asked a federal judge Monday to lift a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects. Judge Martin Feldman said he will decide by Wednesday whether to overturn the ban.
—The man President Obama picked to run the $20 billion Gulf oil spill damage fund said Monday many people are in “desperate financial straits” and need immediate relief. Kenneth Feinberg, who ran the victims claim fund after the 9/11 attacks, said he is determined to speed up payment of claims.
—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has sworn in a former federal prosecutor as director of a new government agency to oversee offshore drilling and other oil and gas development. Michael R. Bromwich will lead a reorganization of the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service. Obama plans to break up the agency into three separate entities to eliminate conflicts of interest.
—BP chief executive Tony Hayward has canceled his appearance at a London oil conference on Tuesday, citing his commitment to the Gulf of Mexico relief effort. He will skip Tuesday’s session of the World National Oil Companies Congress, an annual gathering of oil executives from across the globe where he was due to give the keynote speech about the global responsibilities of international oil companies.