With prices having pierced the $100-a-barrel mark, there's no avoiding talk of oil these days. The gooey black stuff gets major play this month at a conference devoted to pumping it safely from underwater wells, as 70,000 engineers and industry leaders from more than 110 countries spend four days in Houston discussing the future of energy and innovations in oil production. That same week in Savannah, Georgia, accident prevention and response will be on the agenda at the triennial International Oil Spill Conference. A gathering of Coast Guard, Navy and energy-industrial insiders, the event will also boast some much-needed C-list celebrity sparkle (because who wants to spend all weekend thinking about little oil-covered seabirds?):