Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: the Bp Disaster

On April 20, the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history. As a result, a huge loss of money and life was caused and affected serious environmental damage to wild animals and water pollution. BP was accused of their irresponsibility that it took 87 days before the well was closed and sealed. BP’s shares

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill was the largest spill in history in front of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. This oil spill released about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean. This spill not only wreck havoc on the marine life but also the economic players that depended on ocean such as fisherman, tourism, and offshore drilling located along the gulf coast. Along will the spill the oil rig which was named Deepwater Horizon also went up in flames. This proved that the issue went far beyond just an oil rig that blew a line. Since this oil spill had drastic impacts all along the coast, BP which was the most liable for this incident faced criminal charges based on what happened. BP which knew the risks of deep ocean drilling failed to take the necessary safety procedures to reduce the risks of such incident occurring, thus was the reasoning behind placing most of the fault on them and not the other companies. The lack of regulatory oversight led to the issues and cost-cutting procedures opened the rig up to possible malfunctions like the one that occurred. During the spill into the gulf, BP sealed the well with cement which seemed to stop a majority of the oil from escaping the well. BP also recognized that the well was “dead” which was proven wrong when scientists still could conclude was leaking minor amounts of oil into the ocean. This spill not only proved to be harmful to the environment but also

After a long debate with the mangers of the rig, it was determined that the rig had a malfunction and overdue for a lot of updates and maintenance, but BP representatives did not believe it, and pushed the rig to its limits. The rig operated normally for some time, at least that’s what the BP representative were thinking, but they were wrong. The rig could not handle the pressure and it busted. Due to the negligence the rig eventually blew up, spilling a lot of oil. “The oil spill, the worst in maritime history, dumped 4.2 million barrels of oil, and officials released 1.8 million gallons of Corexit, a chemical depressant used to break up the oil, into the Gulf before the well was sealed.”(Marsa, 2016, para.

They were the ones who dropped the oil into the ocean when they were out on the ocean. Even though other companies were working on the rig, BP was in charge of the boat that caused the spill.

Since the Deepwater Horizon explosion happened nearly six years ago there have been countless reports on the explosion and scientific studies on what cause it as well as its impact. There have also been investigations into the internal workers of BP and they concerns about the rig prior to the explosion. This case brings up social, political and environmental issues to light and the approaches BP had to each of these issues.

Many scientists blame the world renowned oil company, Switzerland based Transocean Ltd. Transocean did end up paying a costly amount of 18.7 million dollars, and 75 million for damages. Although Transocean payed money to restore the rig, they could not pay back for all of the indirect damages towards fisheries and wildlife. Lucky for Transocean, the government dedicated a trust fund with one tenth of 1% of the price

The mechanic reported there were several issues on the rig and there were months of the drill kicking due to resistance and high gas pressures (Washburn & McClatchy Newspapers, 2010). A stuck pipe was at the drilling site, and the plug was taken out of the well. There were concerns in regards to the safety of employees, inadequate equipment, and the reliability of the rig. The perception of the safety of the rig was misconceived due to data being interested inaccurately by employees. There was damage done to the blowout preventor months before the explosion. Workers were responsible for maintaining the rig and evaluating the safety of the rig. There were sparks on the vessel, and the lights flickered before strong vibrations. Employees report hearing a thud and then an explosion followed shortly after. As a result of the blast, seals were blown, and barriers exploded. There were less than five minutes to spare between the explosion and evacuation. It was suggested the ignition source released gas and the air intakes were exhausted as the main generators emitted hot gas (McGill & Schwartz, 2010). The explosion could have resulted due to high pressures caused by the hot gas emitted. The pressure test was not assessed or interpreted accurately, the company's neglected signs of the pipe, and recommendations were ignored by BP. There was a hole in the cement, there were not

BP, Transocean and Halliburton all share responsibility for the deadly explosion that resulted in the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to the final federal report on the matter released Wednesday.The three companies "violated a number of federal offshore safety regulations," according to the report, which includes a series of recommendations for improving drilling safety. The report, issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, concludes that a key cause of the explosion was a faulty cement drilling barrier at the Macondo well site."The precise reasons for the failure of the production casing cement job are not known," the report states. But the disaster was "the result of poor risk management,

Deepwater Horizon oilrig owned by Transocean and leased by British Petroleum (BP) blew up in 2010. It caused spewing of at least three million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This incident is considered as the most deadly industrial accident and the greatest environmental disaster.

Deepwater Horizon rig, which led to the deaths of 11 of the rig workers and the occurrence of the oil spill. It is documented that the two site leaders observed warning signs that the Mocondo Well was not secured properly and that oil and gas was leaking from the well. Unfortunately, Kaluza and Vidrine did not to take proper precautions, which is why they were charged with 11 felony counts of seaman’s manslaughter, 11 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 1 violation of the Clean Water Act. If BP had a culture that included corporate social responsibility training and education, that promoted safety before profits, these two men would not be facing life in prison. David I. Rainey, the Deputy Incident Commander and BP’s second highest-ranking

The incident of offshore oil rig explosion in marine environment at Macondo well at Gulf of Mexico leading by British Petroleum(BP), becoming the largest accidental marine oil spill in oil explosion history.Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton are the world's largest offshore drilling contractors and working with the British Petroleum at Macondo well.“The Deepwater Horizon (DWH), an oil rig working for BP on the Macondo exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico, experienced a gas leak while closing out the well and subsequently exploded on the evening of April 20, 2010, killing eleven men and injuring many others” (Petroli, 2014). The New York Times reported that the loss of life and entire oil rig at the Macondo site in 2010 were the result of poor risk management, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, last-minute changes to plans, inadequate well control response and insufficient emergency bridge response training by operating companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the operation of the Deepwater Horizon. According to the BP this accident involved a well integrity failure, which lead to loss of hydrostatic control of the well. it was followed by a failure to control the flow from the well with the blowout preventer (BOP) equipment, which allowed the release and subsequent ignition of hydrocarbons. Ultimately, the BOP emergency functions failed to seal the well after the initial

The series of ethical issues that took place leading to the disaster are complex, and other factors such as economic and political issues arose after the catastrophe happened. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical issues that took place before the disaster happened, and investigate the moral obligations, social responsibility and justice at an individual and organizational level. The ethical dilemma is broken down into three categories, which include the company’s management priority to reduce costs and time, neglecting safety issues addressed by staff, human misjudgment and errors in neglecting pressure reading; and finally, overlooking the technical design flaws that were not tested by BP before installing to use. The

British Petroleum is one of the biggest oil and gas organizations around the world. British Petroleum had the rights to investigate the Macondo all around, situated in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009. Events like Deep Water Horizon explosion has also been taken place under the supervision of the British Petroleum company. Because of the absence of regulations, both inward and outward, and in additionally due to the reduction in the health and safety budget decision by the higher management, the incident of the Deep Water Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico region has happened. Despite the fact that the oil kit was rented by British Petroleum, an organization named Transocean claimed and worked the Deep Water Horizon. Their activities, deliberate or not, changed the lives of numerous people and eventually denied them of their basic universal rights. By neglecting to protect individuals from destitution, British Petroleum, abused their insignificant obligations and acted in a totally deceptive manner. Due to the oil spill, the tourism and fishery industry is severely damaged and the aquatic life and human life are facing the consequences still today. British Petroleum should dependably survey conceivable dangers, and discover

Although the accident was caused by a mechanical failure, it spiralled out of control because of an insufficient safety system. BP acted inefficiently and their carelessness cost the lives of people and damaged the environment, nevertheless this does not mean they acted in an unethical way as

In order to access the crude oil there, BP leased a rig from Transocean, the world’s biggest offshore drilling company. With more than 26,000 employees and a fleet of 136 vessels, Transocean operates in some 30 countries. BP also hired Halliburton, the second largest oilfield services company, to cement and seal off the well once drilling was complete. Halliburton employs more than 50,000 people and provides services in 70 countries.