The Bp Deepwater Horizon Disaster

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.

The BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill tells the tragic story of what happened on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig back in April 2010. The rig, leased from another vendor, was digging a well on the Macondo slope in the Gulf when it exploded and fatally killed eleven employees and injured seventeen others (Crandall, Parnell, & Spillan, 2014). Not to mention, five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea causing an environmental issue that lasted more than ninety days.

The Deepwater Horizon Disaster brought to the surface many poor decisions made by Transocean LTD and British Petroleum (BP). This disaster claimed eleven lives and devastated several ecosystems; taking years to rebuild. The garbage can model played a part in making the faulty decision of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster. This decision-making process is influenced by four variables: problems, solutions, participants, and choice opportunities.

The biggest oil spill in history started on April 20th, 2010 by an oil ring called the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil ring was owned by an offshore oil drilling company called Transocean and they were leasing the oil ring to British Petroleum. The oil well was located on a seabed 4,993 feet below the surface of the ocean. On April 20th, a surge of natural gas penetrated through the concrete core and went up the Deepwater rig’s riser which led to the drilling platform catching fire, and exploding. This caused eleven people to die and injured another seventeen people. During this oil spill more than 200 million gallons of oil was pumped over a period of 87 days into the Gulf of Mexico until the well was capped in July, 2010. A study in the blowout preventer showed that huge blades known as blind shear rams

On April 20, 2010, a blast and fire on board the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 50 miles off the Louisiana shore, killing 11 individuals and triggering the biggest offshore oil leak in American history. The rig had been in the last periods of drilling an exploratory well for BP, the British oil mammoth. When the well was topped three months later, an expected 4.9 million barrels of raw petroleum had filled the Gulf. The calamity started when a surge of gas from the well shot up a riser pipe to the rigs’ stage, where it set off a progression of blasts and an enormous burst occurred. Of the 126 individuals on

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

April 20th, 2010 an explosion occurred that created what would be considered one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig was being leased by BP Oil Company and was located only about 40 miles off of the coast of Louisiana. A surge of natural gas that made its way to the Horizon rig’s platform ignited, causing the rig to capsize and sink, thus breaking risers that were being used to counteract the large amount of pressure from oil and natural gasses (Pallardy, 2015). The explosion killed 11 workers and injured 17 others and caused a massive 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

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill happened on August 10, 2010. Today,this is known as the biggest oil spill of all time and has affected thousands due to unreasonable mistakes made by British Petroleum rig workers. The Deepwater Horizon rig, owned and operated by offshore-oil-drilling company, Transocean, and leased by oil company British Petroleum, was situated in the Macondo oil prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, a valley in the continental shelf. On this day, a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core, recently installed by a contractor, Halliburton. The core of the rig was too weak to withstand the pressure because they were composed of a concrete mixture that used nitrogen

The BP Oil Spill began on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP leased, Transocean owned, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 and injuring 17 of the 126 crew members. The explosion also sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig triggering a massive oil spill that would last for 87 days and leak 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. After the explosion, BP and the federal government enlisted the best minds in the country and worked tirelessly to come up with a solution to stop the leaks, but failed several times due to the extreme depth, pressure and technical complexity of using remotely operated vehicles (ROV). The final resolution of the leak was achieved on July 15, 2010, when a sealing cap was installed over top of the well. Although the stoppage of the leak took just under two months, the clean-up efforts continued for much longer as containment booms, chemical dispersants, skimming vessels and controlled burns were used to mitigate the environmental damage. The event was classified as the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.

On April 20, 2010, a cement seal of an oil well malfunctioned, leading to the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oilrig. Acknowledged as one the worst accidental oil spills, killing 11 people. The BP pipe discharged oil for 87 days following the failure. It is estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. Even though this incident happened 7 years ago, it is still relevant because there has been more insight from years of analyzing what went wrong, as well as more effective ways to handle the aftermath of a situation like that. This is an interesting situation because it is a two-part failure; of course, the initial equipment glitch, as well as the insufficiency measures they took to

BP Oil Spill which is also known as Gulf of Mexico and Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest marine oil spill throughout the history which was caused by an explosion on offshore oil platform namely Deepwater Horizon on 20th April, 2010 located at the Mississippi River delta. British Petroleum (BP) was the principal developer of Macondo Prospects oil field where the accident held. The accident occurred when they were closing the oil well for using it in future prospects. BP claimed that on July 15, 2010 they capped the well by stopping the flow of into the Gulf of Mexico in 86 days. Following the hazards of oil spill U.S. Government held British Petroleum responsible for the

BP is one of the largest company producers in both oil and natural gas in the United States, venturing on exploration and discovery, Deepwater drilling and gas supply chains. On April 20, 2010, 11 men lost their lives after an explosion in the semi-submersible drilling on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig working on the Macondo exploration well for BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The well blowout and subsequent oil spill pumped 3.2 million barrels in the Gulf of Mexico the biggest marine disaster in US history. The fire burned for 36 hours before the rig sank, and the hydrocarbons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was closed and sealed. After the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a sea-floor oil gusher flowed for 87 days, until it was capped on July 15th 2010.

about the dangers of oil and how to clean it up in case it were to get released into the wild. Mitigation is the actions to reduce or eliminate the risks to people and property from such hazards and their effects (Haddow et al, 2014). This definition of mitigation seems to say that, when dealing with risks, they want to greatly reduce any dangers that might come with each risk, and want to save as many lives or property from severe damage or in some cases death. In the case of the BP oil spill, one mitigation would be so that no oil would get out and affect the ocean or marine life. Most oil rigs come with safety standards or protocols in order to mitigate any dangers it might have, to keep the marine life safe, and the safety of the workers on the oil rig. Here the lessons learned could apply to the BP oil spill to make sure it didn’t happen in the first place. In fact, the disaster could have been prevented through proper training, education, and exercises (Haddow et al, 2014). Here we can see that the BP oil spill could have been prevented if the right precautions were put in place and had the people running the oil rig had proper training on how to handle an emergency if it were to occur on their watch.

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

BP's Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010 was one of the worst environmental disasters in history, and was also a public relations catastrophe for the company. This case demonstrates that corporate communications and public relations usually function well enough in routine situations, but tend to break down during crises and catastrophes. With BP's Gulf oil spill, just as with the meltdown of TEPCO's nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, and the ongoing bribery and corruption scandal at Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp that occurred at roughly the same time, the businesses concerned suffered from a disastrous loss in public trust and confidence and severe damage to their image and reputation. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) went bankrupt and ended up being nationalized by the Japanese government, while BP's CEO Tony Hayward was forced to resign. In all these kinds of crises, the businesses concerned not only faced adverse publicity, but public criticism by politicians and government officials, criminal investigations and tremendous civil liabilities. In addition, the Gulf oil spill resulted in loss of life and great damage to the environment and public health. Hayward became notorious for his public relations gaffes and misstatements, so much so that he did severe and permanent damage to the reputation of his company. BP's stock valuation fell by nearly $100 billion in three months, Congress and public opinion were outraged, and a moratorium on deep-water drilling was put in place. In