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Bp : The Third Largest Energy Company Essay

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BP, known as British Petroleum until it rebranded to Beyond Petroleum in 2000, is the third largest energy company in the world. BP has operations on six continents, located in over 80 countries, with its main headquarters located in London, UK. Its largest operating division is BP America, which is located in Houston, Texas. The Deepwater Horizon was a semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean. Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries the rig was leased to BP from 2001 until September 2013. On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, an uncontrollable blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball. The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on April 22, the Horizon sank, leaving the well leaking at the seabed.
On April 20, 2010, during the final phases of drilling the exploratory well at Macondo, a geyser of seawater erupted from the marine riser onto the rig, shooting 240 feet into the air. This was soon followed by the eruption of a slushy combination of drilling mud, methane gas, and water. The gas component of the slushy material quickly transitioned into a fully gaseous state and then ignited into a series of explosions and then a firestorm. An attempt was made to activate the blowout preventer, but it failed. The final defense to prevent an oil spill, is a device known as a blind shear ram, which was activated but failed to plug the well. After approximately 36 hours,

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