Exxon And British Petroleum Spill Essay

     Chevron Texaco, or Texaco Shell, is the leading competitor to ExxonMobil. Texaco is in the same areas of business as Exxon. Their petroleum products and lubricants are sold in the same markets, stores, and in many cases opposite street corners from each other. The two companies are very similar, but Exxon’s recent petroleum deals in the Middle East and Africa have allowed its stock price to jump ahead for the time being (1). In the industry, the two companies mainly compete for the ability to negotiate for new production. The competition is not made at the pump or at the local auto store. It seems that it’s more important to control oil than it is to sell it quickly. Because oil has so much value and power in the world, the industry is made of semi-friendly companies. Surviving and making as much profit as possible, is more important than trying to put people out of business.

Oil covered everything: beaches, animals, plants, bottoms of boats. Approximately 205.8 million gallons of oil leaked into the ocean and toward the Louisiana shoreline. To put the amount in perspective, that oil could be used to drive a Toyota Prius around the earth 184,181 times (Repanich). All of this pollution and destruction because of one singular company: British Petroleum. Needless to say, the image of BP was tarnished because of this. What can a company do to come back from such a serious setback? This was the question that was faced by the company in 2010 (when the spill occurred), and is still being wrestled with today. By analyzing BP’s “Commitment to the Gulf” ad campaign, the brand’s desired identity is made very apparent. When it comes to oil, nearly all consumers are involved. However, BP does take specific steps in order to narrow down a target audience when it comes to advertising its product. Despite the hardships faced by BP stemming from the spill, consumers still have an addiction to oil. BP, the fourth largest oil company in the world (“Biggest Oil”), has such a firm hold on consumer society that it is a necessity in today’s consumer landscape. By pushing the brand’s identity to its target audience, BP used branding to overcome a severe controversy and rebuild the image it hoped to convey to consumers.

In 1999, BP was fined $1.7 million for burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery. In the following year, the company was charged $10 million by the EPA for the air pollution from its U.S. refineries (Beder, 2002).

With all of the disasters mankind has caused to this earth, one might wonder if things like earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc. are nothing more than a response to our actions. The BP oil spill, which took place in the Gulf of Mexico, is easily recognizable as the worst oil spill disaster in American history. More than 200 million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days total. The entire 16,000 miles of the Gulf coastline were affected. This included Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. The oil may have stopped gushing in 2010, but it has yet to stop washing up on the shore.

The Ocean Ranger was an offshore exploration oil drilling platform that sank in Canadian waters 315 kilometres southeast from St. John's Newfoundland, on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland on February 15, 1982, with 84 crewmembers onboard. The Ocean Ranger was the largest semi-submersible, offshore exploration, oil drilling platform of the day. Built in 1976 by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it operated off the coasts of Alaska, New Jersey, Ireland, and in November 1980 moved to the Grand Banks. Since it was so big it was considered to have the ability to drill in areas too dangerous for other rigs. The government thought it was unsinkable, so they felt that there was no need to train a crew very well.

The company was federally indicted in February of 1990, resulting in the oil giant pleading guilty to one charge and paying a fine of $100 million dollars, however, this was simply the criminal case. The amount of civil cases was staggering and Exxon was ordered to pay $5 billion in punitive damages. This

7 Years ago, in the Gulf of Mexico one of the worst catastrophes that has happened in modern history, happened. Moreover, in the United States. The “BP” Gulf oil spill as you might of hear it called. Although, British Petroleum has made every possible attempt to rename the mishap. Years later this incident has had a huge impact in the local infrastructure. Furthermore, this was a compounding effect on the Gulf, 5 short years since Hurricane Katrina leveled the coast. This was just another hit to the gulf residents. The public relations of BP and this catastrophe were atrocious in the since that BP ran away from the camera while they had no possible answer as to how they were going to stop the massive spill. Another impact was sustained by the

There are a few things that are needed in order for man to survive, food, water, shelter, and an energy source. In the beginning fire was that energy source used to keep humans warm and to cook their food. These days energy is in other forms such as nuclear, wind, solar, and of course, petroleum (oil) and are all needed for survival. Oil was, at one time, plentiful and considered more of a nuisance for those who were drilling wells for water in the US because it would seep into the wells. Early uses for the oil were for machinery lubrication and burning in lamps. It wasn’t until the invention of the internal combustion engine, which made life and manufacturing so much simpler, that oil became of more interest. In the late 1800s John D.

In 2010 on April 20th the Gulf of Mexico had seen the worst environmental disaster the world had ever seen. It started as an explosion on a BP oil rig that took the lives of 11 people and injuring 17 while leaking "...at least 3 million barrels of oil..." (Bryant & Hunter, 2010, para. 2 This was not the first accident that has happened to BP but, certainly the most costly. In 2005 there was an explosion at a refinery in Texas that killed 15 and injured over 180 people (Bryant & Hunter, 2010). They ended up paying over "...2 billion in damages and lawsuits" (Bryant & Hunter, 2010, para. 5). With the 2005 incident, BP had cut costs in their operating budget and also lowered the safety standards of the company (Bryant & Hunter, 2010). There

Understanding various ecosystems allow us to better understand the impact in which the deep horizon spill had within each type of ecosystem. The oil spill occurred around three specific types of ecosystems including the coastal areas, the freshwater areas, and the upland areas. The coastal areas often contain salty marshes which can be harsh on many plants. These coastal areas also include tropical coral reefs, sand dunes, and maritime forests. The freshwater areas include rivers and springs, lakes, swamps and freshwater marshes while the upland areas have pine and Flatwoods, temperate forests, and scrub (Par. 5). Each of these ecosystems can provide a different mixtures of challenges

The e Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the Macondo well began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April 2010 killed 11 people and caused almost 5 million barrels of oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill covered 68,000 square miles of land and sea and triggered a response effort involving the use of nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant chemicals (Pallardy). Considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) resulted in widespread environmental and economic damage, the exact nature of which is only beginning to be understood (Shultz 59). This paper will address the causes of this unmitigated ecological disaster and discuss steps that need to be taken to prevent a similar disaster from occurring again.

This oil spill has cost around $56 billion to BP including punditry fine, cleaning cost, legal settlements and fines.

British Petroleum also known as Anglo Persian Oil Company, and now known as BP. The company has experienced many ups and downs in its past history, but BP became one of the largest energy companies. Over BP history has experienced issues such as environmental damage, hazards that affected its works and issue due to business practices (Thome, Ferrell, Ferrell, 2011).

As of today the 2010 Oil spill stands out as the worst in history. BP set aside 43 billion for cleanup and fines. In 2012, BP agreed to accept criminal responsibility for the disaster and agreed to pay $4.5 billion to the US government, thus settling its criminal liability in the spill (Howgego, 2015). Now, legal efforts have focused on the amount of civil penalties the firm must pay, both to businesses and individuals affected by the spill and to cover environmental clean-up costs. Also in 2012, BP reached a $9.2 billion civil settlement and agreed to put $20 billion into a trust to pay to businesses and individuals (Schwartz, 2011). However, legal proceedings have continued after BP said it had been forced to pay compensation to some businesses

The oil spill undermines the reputation and market position of British Petroleum, thus its stock prices decline dramatically. Even though BP took measures for resolving these problems, its way was not beneficial enough and therefore, it still requires more advantageous resolutions.