The BP Oil Spill Disaster In The Gulf Of Mexico

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 addition to being warned by Halliburton a company designated to fix the cement, BP would opt out to continue on with the mission. This would be one of several key factors that would soon indicate a series of problematic events that would transpire on that dreadful day in April 20, 2010. The Deepwater Horizon has a series of steps to complete in

Imagine 2,500 to 68,000 square miles covered in 4.9 million barrels of oil. No, imagine being covered in 4.9 million barrels of oil. Picture yourself gasping for air in an ocean filled with oil. That is exactly what birds, sea turtles, dolphins, and other animals had to do after the most catastrophic oil spill of all time occurred on April 20, 2010.

How did the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 affect our economy and environment, and what does the future hold, with regard to the environment, oil drilling, and sustainability?

The oil spill created long term problems for the living organisms that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. The oil covered the feathers of birds, making them unable to float at the surface. The oil killed some of the deep sea coral as far as seven miles away from the site. Mammals ingested the oil, which resulted in some of the mammals having internal bleeding and ulcers. This has also lead to an increase in sea turtles stranding, sick dolphins, and a decrease in population of many marine animals. This disaster stuck during the breeding season for many species of wildlife. “The oil’s toxicity may have hit egg and larval organisms immediately”, which could have wiping out those age classes. Population dips and cascading food web has occurred due to

The Deepwater Horizon was a nine year old, ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible, offshore drilling rig built in South Korea. In 2008, British Petroleum (BP) leased it from Transocean to drill for oil in the Gulf Coast. In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a depth of 35,055-feet. On April 20, 2010 while drilling the rig exploded at 9:45PM (CST), killing eleven workers and injuring seventeen others. It was caused when methane gas from the well shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform then ignited and exploded. The explosion then led the rig to burn, with the resulting fire unable to be extinguished 2 days later it sinked leaving

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

But now, they deliver Deepwater Horizon, which documents the horrors of what took place on the evening of April 20, 2010, more than 40 miles off of the Louisiana Coast, when a semi-submersible oil rig exploded into a ball of fire, resulting in the deaths of 11 crew members and causing the gravest environmental

Four weeks before the explosion, there was a discovery that a worker had bumped the control switch where it had moved a portion of the pipe through the BOP, that caused chunks of rubber that were found in the drilling fluid. No action was taken to fix the problem (Cook,2010).

First, in 2010, Transocean created an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana. 7 productive years later, the rig exploded, almost in sync with the B.P team getting an award for no explosions in 7 years. The team also skipped the pressure test, which was supposed to be the week before the explosion, on April 13. Many scientists believe they skipped it because it was estimated 9-12 hours, with a very expensive cost. As a result of these other projects, the employees were focusing less on the rig, which soon exploded at 9:56 pm, April 20.

In April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon was in very deep water, and put a dynamic and semi-submersible offshore drilling owned by Transocean. Manipulation, while drilling in the Macondo Prospect, causing the explosion can not be controlled explosion on a platform in which 11 crew members were killed and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles (64 km) away

These two studies investigated the effects of the April 2010 BP Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the observable effects that it has had on coral reef and salt marsh ecosystems. The study conducted by White investigated nine coral communities six months after the spill using ROVs. In an area 11 km west of the spill site, the researchers studied scleractinian, gorgonian, antipatharian corals and found many that were covered with floc, a brown flocculent material, that is linked to coral tissue damage and mortality. The study conducted by Silliman et. al. investigated the oil spill impacts on the salt marshes lining the Louisiana coast. Silliman and his team identify oil spills as one of the most damaging forms of pollution due to their unpredictable nature and associated lack of readily available tools and resources that would be needed to restrict their impact on nearby ecosystems. The team studied salt marshes located in Barataria Bay, LA which was one the regions that experienced some of the most extensive oiling from the spill. The team investigated the current status and future impacts of the spill on the marshes. Past data revealed that negative impacts on marshes could be corrected with plant re-growth and oil degradation that naturally occurs with time, and at even faster rates in warmer climates, which provides a hopeful outlook for the LA region. In addition to the direct effects of oiling, the team also analyzed the geomorphic effects that may be a

On April 20th, 2010 an explosion occurred that would be considered one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history. The explosion was cause by a surge of natural gas that made it way to the Horizon rig’s platform that ignited. This caused the rig to capsize and sink, thus breaking risers that were being use to counter act the large amount of pressure from oil and natural gasses (Pallardy, 2015). The explosion killed 11 workers and injured 17 others. The explosion caused a massibe leak in the oil wellhead. It took 87 days for the wellhead to be closed and it is estimated that over that time around 210 million gallons of oil leaked into the gulf (Gulf Oil Spill, 2011).

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

Beginning in the 1980’s, offshore oil production showed to be a solution for the United States’ energy issues and national security. In the beginning, the wells were in shallow water, but once these wells were dry, drilling in the deeper water began. Although there were drawbacks, such as the difficulty to drill and operate a well at such tremendous depths and because of these depths robots would have to troubleshoot maintenance problems instead of humans. Additionally, in deep waters, special drilling rigs are needed. There are two types of drilling rigs, the drillship, and the semi-submersible. The Deepwater Horizon was a semi-submersible rig that was used to excavate the well on the Macondo slope in the Gulf of Mexico. Once the excavation was done, another rig would arrive to extract the oil. Companies like British