Oil And The Deep Water Horizon Drilling Platform

This essay will discuss the long lasting effects on the economy from the explosion on the DeepWater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The events that took place on April 20, 2010 would go down in history as the worst deep sea oil spill in history. British Petroleum would suffer its greatest lost to date when one of its drilling rigs the Deepwater Horizon would blow up in the Gulf of Mexico (Crandall, Parnell & Spillan, 2014). In the days and weeks following the explosion there were signs of a problem that were overlooked after test came back inconclusive on one of the pressure systems.

All indications are that the Company’s behavior pre oil spill was irresponsible and negligent and was potentially driven primarily by a focus to provide strong returns on their investments while compromising the integrity and internal controls of the operations. Post oil spill, the Company has had to learn from the consequences of a very costly disaster in order to stay in business and thrive. The Organization appears to understand now the need for effective communication, transparency and detailed due-diligence in all their efforts.

This paper will explain some of the effects of three legal issues and three ethical issues surrounding the London-based British Petroleum Company’s involvement in the explosion of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon and the subsequent oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. There are many legal issues surrounding this disaster, but the three this paper will focus on are the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, maritime laws, and criminal charges

BP Exploration and Production, Inc. (BP) (defendant) and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Anadarko) (defendant) co-leased oil and gas rights in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and co-owned a producing well on the leasehold. A blowout occurred in the well while Deepwater Horizon, a mobile offshore-drilling unit (MODU) owned by Transocean (defendant), was engaged in drilling operations on the well. Deepwater Horizon broke off the well and sank. As a result, oil flowed from the well, through what remained of the riser that had connected the well to Deepwater Horizon, and into the Gulf. The United States government (plaintiff) sought to impose joint and several liability on all defendants under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. §§ 2701-04, for the

King, Rawle O. 2013. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Bibliogov.

The Deepwater Horizon was a semi-submersible that was used to dig the well on the Macondo slope of the Gulf of Mexico (Crandall et al, 2014). It was built in Korea and arrived for use in the Gulf of Mexico in 2001 (Crandall et al, 2014). After the well was dug and capped, the rig moved to a different site to dig again. Soon after Deepwater Horizon was finished, a different rig would arrive to drain the oil. The Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was 18,360 feet below sea level. British Petroleum (BP) and other organizations leases these rigs through Transocean, rather than owning or operating them (Crandall et al, 2014). For Deepwater Horizon, they leased the rig to Transocean for $533,000 a day (Crandall et al, 2014). Unfortunately, drilling the Macondo brought problems that

Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster- (Argumentative Essay) Were you aware that when the Deepwater Horizon disaster happened it took 36 hours for it to fully submerge, and when the fish died because of all the oil fishermen could not make a living and support their family because they could not do their job and earn money? During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010, there were two major players at blame, BP, and TransOcean. The Disaster occurred because TransOcean, the drilling company did not take care of the B.O.P. (Blow Out Preventer) and because they had a broken E.D.S. Panel (Emergency Disconnect System). So what happened was that TransOcean had nothing under control and because of that there was chaos and many lives had been

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

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

A presidential oil-spill commission attributed the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion to technological arrogance, hubris, and the overconfidence bias (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). Based on countless engineering theories there were signs that decision makers should have paid more attention to. This disaster could have been prevented, as it was a direct result of cost-cutting decisions made by BP and its business partners.

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

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 resulted in considerable damage to the environment, economy and human livelihoods. While BP, as one of the parties involved in the operation of the oil drilling on Deepwater Horizon rig, suffered huge financial loss and reputation loss, it was found to be the one to be mostly blamed due to its lack of risk management. As poor risk management can lead to an astonishing disaster like this, it appears to be necessary for every business to learn from BP’s mistakes and try the best to prevent such disaster from happening again. This report studies this case, focusing on two issues identified in BP’s risk management practices, namely its sloppy preparation for risks and its inappropriate communication strategy after the crisis happened. No evidence showed that BP had a sufficient emergency plan for the worst-case deep-water oil spill although the depth of the oil drilling was one of the deepest. BP’s unseriousness towards safety was also indicated in their attempt to shift blames to its contractors and the unaccountability shown by the words of BP’s executives during interviews. Based on the examination of BP’s deficiency in risk management, the lessons that can be learned from it are discussed. In brief, firstly, accurate risk assessment and appropriate emergency plan should be available before the operation is started. Secondly, post-crisis communication should show the world that the company cares and is accountable

Deepwater Horizon oil Spill: BP’s drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico had an explosion in April 2010, causing the “largest oil spill catastrophe in the petroleum industry history”. It caused the death of 11 men and injury to several others. “More than 150,000 barrels of crude oil gushed into the sea, every day, for almost 5 months and up to 68,000 square miles of the Gulf 's surface were covered” (1).

In 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, causing millions of barrels of crude oil to be leaked out into the Gulf of Mexico. The extensive oil spill created a lot of pollution and far-reaching effects on the tourism industry. The resultant damage to marine wildlife such as fish will continue to be felt for many years to come. Weeks after the event, and while it was still in progress, the Deep Water Horizon oil spill was being discussed as a disaster that will impact global economies, markets, and mining policies. The potential consequences included structural shifts in energy policy, insurance marketplaces and risk assessment, and financial liabilities to be incurred by BP. The law that affected the operation of BP’s business was the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of pollutants in US’s waters (EPA, 2008). Following the oil spill, regulations have been put in place to regulate oil drilling operations. The Obama administration proposed new regulations on offshore oil and gas drilling. The regulation focused on oil and gas drilling companies to use stronger blowout Preventers that have the capability to close an offshore well in case a drilling breach occurred accidentally.

The government was also responsible for activating coast guards and the military in its response to the spill. Hence, the role of the US government here is crucial as a “parent” to ensure that BP acts in the welfare of its citizens.