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The Oil Spill Of The Gulf Of Mexico

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Introduction

British Petroleum (BP) is a multinational oil and gas company. Based on market cap, it was the fifth largest energy company in 2013. ("IHS Energy 50"). Like many petroleum based companies, BP is often under fire from environmental activists for not being environmentally cautious, but during the year of 2010, BP experienced a disaster that would cripple it’s reputation far past that of the average petroleum energy company.

Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater offshore oil drilling rig licensed by BP. It was drilling the deepest oil well in US history, in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20th, 2010, there was an explosion on the oil rig that caused it to burn and sink. This resulted in the deaths of 11 workers, the injury of 16 others, and a massive oil spill. With a volume of 4.9 million barrels pumped into the gulf (“On Scene Coordinator Report Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”), and a total covered area of 68 thousand square miles ("BP / Gulf Oil Spill"), it is considered the largest environmental disaster in US history. (Zeller).

The effect of the spill was massive environmental damage, and large economic losses for businesses in the area. The tourism and fishing industries were hit especially hard. Naturally, the reaction from the public was extremely negative. Petitions arose, and Facebook pages were created, that urged people to boycott the company. There were also many protests at BP gas stations. The band Korn even vowed to never use BP products in their

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