Bp Oil Spill Case Study

Indeed, crises occur, inevitably, throughout society; emerging due to some form of accident, miscalculation, or possibly just random chance. One such example is that of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, also known as the BP oil spill, occurring on April 20th, 2010. To clarify, the event is known as the largest marine oil spill in history, killing eleven people, and discharging nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Certainly, the crisis spawned a substantial amount of outrage, backlash, and controversy due to the calamitous effects of the incident. Through unambiguous efforts, BP (British Petroleum) attempted to calm the public’s reaction to the situation by using strategically sophisticated skills in public relations. Through my analysis, I will assess the ways in which BP attempted to manage the crisis with regards to the ethical values portrayed, as well as the overall effectiveness of the responses. Therefore, I will commence by providing background through a brief

On the night of the incident, 126 crewmembers were on board. As the rig was running, highly pressurized methane gas rose in the chamber, igniting the platform in a scorching blaze. The incident resulted in 11 deaths, 17 injured, and a gargantuan volume of oil spillage. Though many efforts were made in the attempt to stop the oil well from leaking, none were successful. In fact, the oil flowed from the drilling site for 87 days, making the cleanup significantly complicated. Certainly, the public was furious about the blunder, leading to criticism and protest against BP. Furthermore, it wasn’t until April 2014 that BP declared the cleanup substantially complete, proving the exhaustive endeavours involved in removal process. Thus, the BP oil crisis was one that invoked anger upon society, due to the environmental, economic, and health consequences involved in the oil