Depleting reserves, high oil prices and spectacular offshore discoveries concentrated a global attention to deep water (National Geographic, p.3). Joel and Bourne (2010) claim “the Gulf of Mexico now accounts for 30 percent of U.S. production, with half of that coming from deep water (1,000 to 4,999 feet)”. The U.S. government roughly calculated that the deep Gulf might contain 45 billion barrels of oil (NG, p.44). Hence, this fact gave new reasons for oil companies to drill oil wells in that region. The Minerals Management Service (MMS), the national agency that administrated offshore drilling, used to claim that the possibilities of blowout were less than one percent, and that if one did happen, it would not release much oil (National Geographic, Joel.K, Bourne, JR. The deep dilemma, October,2010, vol.218., no4, p.42). But an explosive blowout of the Maconda well that occurred in late April contradicts MMS’s statement. Since Deepwater Horizon rig explosion caused the most serious accidental marine oil spill in history and instantly acquired major political, environmental and economic importance (Robertson and Krauss 2010). According to Deepwater Horizon Accident Investigation Report, a well control incident allowed hydrocarbons to escape from the Macondo well onto Deepwater Horizon oil rig, causing explosions and fire on the rig. The fire proceeded for thirty-six hours until the rig sank (Deepwater Horizon Accident Investigation Report). For approximately three months, hydrocarbons escaped from the container through the blowout preventers and the wellbore, resulting in a spill of national significance (Deepwater Horizon Accident Investigation Report). Worse still, eleven workers died, 205.8 million gallons of oil gushed into th... ... middle of paper ... ...ng years of failed efforts to recover from past destruction. To accomplish its restoration is the most principal challenge now encountering Gulf despite years of unsuccessful approaches to recover from previous damages. According to Cohen’s (1986) oil spillage damage statistics, the environmental impact from the 5 million barrels of oil spilled by the Deepwater Horizon is to exceed $1.5 billion, nevertheless according to Helton and Penn (1999) is to be approximately $13.6 billion (Cohen 2011). Mentioned statistics exclude clean up costs or compensation to private parties that have incurred economic losses (Cohen 2011). Applying the ExxonValdez per gallon estimates to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill would provide an impact estimate varying in value from $105 billion to $239 billion—a figure that includes both environmental impact and economic impact (Cohen 2011).
In the Macondo blowout case, (Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill), leaders within Transocean and British Petroleum (BP) processed a “by any means necessary” mentality as well. The company cultures promoted doing whatever was possible to enhance profits. This oil leak and explosion, resulted in the loss of 11 lives, destroyed beaches and wetlands, and killed multiple wildlife species. The most telling piece of information throughout this case is that the oil spill and explosion could ...
One major business incident happened in April 2010 shocked the world and caused an “earthquake” of British Petroleum (BP)’s brand image. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig owned by BP in the Golf of Mexico exploded, leading to a disastrous oil spill in this marine area. The maritime disaster caused by the explosion became the largest one in the history of the U.S. and brought huge financial and reputations losses to BP. What is worse, sealing the oil well took over five months. From the explosion of the completion of the sealing (announced by BP), over 780 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the sea, causing irreversible pollution and damage to the bio-system in this area and the world (Lofgren 2013). BP’s response, however, is considered as a crisis communication failure (Heller 2012) by some people and others believe BP’s response was effective (Mejri & de Wolf 2013).
On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, on the Deep water Horizon oil drilling rig which rented by BP. There were 126 workers on board at the time of the explosion. Fifteen of them were injured, and eleven died. Two days later the oil drilling rig sank, the leaving oil spewing into the Gulf. This was the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, the oil had been leaking for almost three months.
Smith Jr., Lawrence C., L. Murphy Smith, and Paul A. Ashcroft. "Analysis Of Environmental And Economic Damages From British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill." Albany Law Review 74.1 (2011): 563-585.Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Many businesses that sell seafood had to cut back on it for the past few months. It has been since April that businesses are now selling shellfish back on the menu for a somewhat reasonable price. A major incident occurred just two days before Earth Day. The incident is well known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or as many others call it, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig along the Gulf of Mexico is an oil-spill that resulted from an explosion that is under contract with BP, leading up to over million barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. This incident has led to many controversies. Arguments in discussion are whether or not we should continue to drill offshore, what exactly went wrong, and why none of the safeties were unable to activate.
On April 20, 2010, a tragic disaster hit the Gulf Coast. British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon rig exploded spewing crude oil into the ocean from the three major cracks in the rig. It rivaled the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill within days of explod...
April 20, 2010, an explosion killed 11 people instantly and injured 17 more. But the explosion did much more than that. The event occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Coast of Louisiana, on an oilrig. Sometime after the rig exploded, it collapsed. There was now a much bigger problem on hand. 5,000 feet below the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, oil began to gush into the open waters of the gulf. Over the span of 87 days, oil continued to spew hundreds of barrels of oil from the Macondo wellhead. Once the leak was finally one hundred percent ceiled on July 15, 2010, the wellhead had leaked more than 130 gallons of oil into the gulf; therefore making the incident the largest accidental oil spill ever.
On April 20, 2010, the Gulf of Mexico experienced a disaster unprecedented in scale and environmental impact. Fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a BP drilling rig suffered an explosion that claimed eleven lives and caused the rig to sink over 5000 ft. to the sea bed floor. This was the beginning of the BP oil spill which spanned over eighty seven days, releasing an approximate 2.3 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Although the flow of oil into the Gulf was contained July 15, 2010, the lasting effects of the oil spill on the environment continue to be devastating and widespread. (Kirkwood 1)
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, BP 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Sean Edward Paquette, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Hartford, Connecticut and Professor Ernesto Gutierrez-Miravete, Ph.D
Most people believe that one man-made natural disaster would teach us to be better, but we have learned that history repeats itself. The Exxon Valdez oil spill (in 1989) and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or BP oil spill, (in 2010) were both devastating oil spills that shocked the nation. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred due to a tanker grounding. The BP oil spill was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. These two oil spills were both disasters and had greater effects in certain categories. In this essay, I will be comparing the cause of both oil spills, the damage/effect of both oil spills, and the cleanup of each oil spill.
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded killing 11 workers and injuring 17. The oil rig sank a day-and-a-half later. The spill was referred to as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP oil spill, Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and BP oil disaster. It was first said that little oil had actually leaked into the ocean but a little over a month later the estimate was 12,000-19,000 barrels of crude oil being leaked per day. Many attempts were made to stop the leak but all failed until they capped the leak on July 15, 2010, and on September 19 the federal government declared the well “effectively dead.” In the three months that it took to finally put a stop the leak, 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the ocean. The spill caused considerable damage to marine and wildlife habitats and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. The White House energy advisor, Carol Browner, goes as far to say that the Deepwater oil spill is the “worst environmental disaster the US has faced.”
Winston A, 2010, Five Lessons from the BP Oil Spill, Harvard Business Review, accessed 1 April 2014,
The April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will forever change the way Americans view deepwater oil drilling. No one could have foreseen that BP’s well would spew into the Gulf waters for over 80 days before it was successfully capped. Over the years, many articles have been written about the disaster, and many different viewpoints given in the articles. This essay discusses the oil spill’s effect on Gulf coast animal and plant life, plus whether the government is implementing effective legislation regarding the spill.
On a Monday afternoon, A couple of friends and I drove about forty-five minutes to El Dorado to see a movie. A movie in which we didn’t know anything about. None of us had even seen the trailer. I sent my friend a link to the movies that were showing at the cinema in El Dorado, and she had chosen Deepwater Horizon solely on the fact she liked the actors that had been cast for the movie. A few of these actors included Mark Wahlberg and Kate Hudson. Deepwater Horizon, as I came to find out on the car ride there, is about the most devastating oil spill in United States history. Since this event occurred only roughly six years ago, I recognized it after my friend called it the BP oil spill. Growing up in south Arkansas, I know many people that work on oil rigs so the spill was something that came close to home. The movie portrays the events leading up to the rig explosion and the aftermath concerning the people aboard the rig.