The Ocean Ranger Oil Disaster Essay

As technology evolved, offshore drilling moved progressively into deeper water and farther away from oceanfront. In 1958, Richfield Oil Company developed the first drilling man-made island in Rincon where there was a substantial amount of oil was found. With the mounting pressure and high demand to produce more oil and gas, geologists studied the anticlinal trends and discovered the abundance of oil productive in Rincon Island extended underneath the Santa Barbara Channel.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred because “oil from the well shot up and out of the drill column under high pressure, extended on the drilling rig and exploded (wikipedia)”. The rig set on fire and later sank. BP, Transocean, along with government agency employer, all worked hard to avoid further spread of the oil.

On Sunday, February 14, 1982, the Ocean Ranger was out at sea drilling at Hibernia well J-34. It was carrying a total of 84 crew members which included 56 Newfoundlanders. At around 8:00PM EST, the Ocean Ranger revived weather reports of a strong winter storm heading their way. With winds about 90 Knots and waves up to 38 feet, it was no different than any other storm so the Ocean Ranger still continued to dig. It was around 4:30PM that the Ranger finally decided to disconnect the drill pipe and retract for safety and wait off the storm. At 7:00PM the Storm was in full swing but was rather smooth due to the pontoons softening the hits. But the Ocean Ranger received a radio signal from a nearby rig called the SEDCO 706 which said they have

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

At approximately 9:45pm the 10-year-old Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded engulfing the platform in flames, taking the lives of 11workers and leaving 17 more injured. Two days later, the Deepwater Horizon was completely underwater, leaving the Gulf of Mexico poisoned with over 5 million gallons of oil. According to environmental biologist Amy

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster that took place in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 is the largest oil spill to have ever occurred in USA waters. As efforts to hold the current spill continues, the higher chances of clean up damage compensation technique, and also enhancing prevention of future oil spill responses and recovery. The rig was owned and under the operation of Transocean, a Switzerland-based offshore drilling firm, and leased to BP plc, one of the biggest oil firms in the world. The explosion and fire that led to eleven fatalities and several injuries took place despite specialized oil spill prevention equipment also known as a blowout preventer, which is designed to avert such a kind of disaster. The quantity

In April of 2010, the Gulf of Mexico ground to a halt. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon mobile offshore drilling unit resulted in one of the worst environmental and economic catastrophes in history. Eleven members of the crew were killed, many others sustained serious and permanent injuries. A moratorium on drilling lasted long into the following year. Massive layoffs ensued across multiple business sectors. Many commercial fishing vessels could not leave port, and those that did caught far fewer fish. Oyster beds were destroyed and miles of wetlands were marred by oil. At the time, we could only imagine how pervasive the effects would be. Shortly after the explosion, Arnold & Itkin LLP, a Houston-based litigation boutique, which represented

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.

In 1989 the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef located off the coast of Alaska. The Exxon Valdez spilled thousands of barrels of oil into Prince William Sound, which was the biggest oil spill to date. “Thousands of animals and hundreds of thousands of birds died in the days immediately after the spill. The fishing and tourism industries suffered losses estimated in the millions of dollars” (Loeb & McCall, 2008). The incident was investigated thoroughly and legal cases were pursued against ExxonMobile.

This occasion brought in the United States Congress passed the oil contamination go about of 1990 (OPA). This act has an article that prohibits any vessel from operating in Prince William Sound. The company argued, and after the ninth appeal, the court ruled against the

There were a number of causes for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, most of which had more to do with the human element that with any technology itself. The four biggest ways that humans contributed to the disaster, as explained by journalist David Coburn, was the fact that British Petroleum’s (BP) past success built a sense of complacency, the shifting the burden of proof, the normalization of deviance and the fact that promoters for an industry also serve as that industry’s regulatory enforcers.

On April 20, 2010, at 9:45 pm, the Deepwater Horizon experienced an explosive blowout on a rig located in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion was about 40 miles of the Louisiana coast. With the flow of gas leaking out, it caused the death of eleven workers on the rig. About two days later the rig sank, which caused quite a lot of damage to a pipeline that laid drawn-out through 5,000 feet of water. As a result, the oil begin pouring from the damaged pipes into the ocean nearby, at the incredible rate. The Deepwater Horizon was built in 2001, and was owned by the Transocean Ltd. There are many people who blame the owners of the oil drilling company and its associates for allowing the disaster to occur on its watch. The resulting explosions at Deepwater Horizon and the oil spill that occurred after, enraged millions of people around the world. Consequently, the BP Company has faced multiple inspections from the U.S government, which is trying to hold BP responsible for its role in the oil spill.

The vessel was traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice. Within six hours of the grounding, the Exxon Valdez spilled approximately 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallon cargo of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. The article states that the vessel encounter icebergs in the shipping lanes caused the decision of leaving the shipping lanes. However, it is unknown why the orders of returning to the shipping lanes at a certain point where not followed. However, five probable causes have been established for the reasons of the spill. One, the third mate failed to maneuver the vessel correctly, possibly due to fatigue and excessive workload. Second, the master did not provide a proper navigation watch, possibly due to

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