BP Oil Spill Essay

The Crisis that I have chosen is the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, more commonly known as the BP oil spill or the Gulf of Oil Spill. The Oil spill is widely regarded as the worst oil spill in U.S. history. I feel that the crisis is an intentional crisis under the categories of poor risk management and unethical leadership.

I feel that this is a Crisis of management failure. I feel that the basic management principles were violated in this case and it was due to the negligence of BP and how inadequate they were in handling the crisis.

Cause- The Oil spill was caused by a well integrity failure, followed by a loss of hydrostatic control of the well. This was followed by a failure to control the flow from the well with the blowout preventer equipment, which allowed the release

BP sued Halliburton, which was the contractor as well as Transocean which was the owner of the oil rig. BP claimed that the 2 companies were responsible for the disaster, including the explosion and resulting leak. However, the federal judge ruled that Halliburton was not liable, leaving BP responsible for all claims. Similarly, in January 2012, it was ruled that Transocean was only liable for fines under the Clean Water Act and its share of punitive damages, not economic loss claims. BP faced massive critisicm due to it’s finger pointing and unwillingness to take responsibility for the oil spill.

Secondly, BP adopted an denial posture through the statements from it’s CEO at that time Tony Hayward. He told the Guardian, a UK newspaper, that the oil spill was relatively tiny in contrast with the ocean. Hayward disputed claims of huge underwater plumes of oil suspended in the Gulf, as had been reported by scientists from three universities. Hayward said there was "no evidence" that plumes of oil were suspended under the sea. He also made comments that the environmental impact of the Gulf spill would likely be "very very