...No. 55 High School BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Investigation Subject: Geography Level: High (HL) Name: Stephanie Chinese: 姜智旻 Homeroom: 10-5 Word count: 1088 Student number: 4192 Supervisor: Craig Hamilton On 20th of August 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Gulf of Mexico exploded then sunk resulting to 11 deaths. During the 87 days, about 4.9 billion barrels of oil had already spread. An estimation of 42,000 gallon of oil is oozing from underwater. From then 75,000km2 was not allowed for fishing. Apparently, the blowout preventer device had bad managements and operations, and failed. Investigators said, “The problems with this blowout preventer were worse than we understood.” (Seth, 2014) In addition, investigators have stated that the cause of this explosion was because of the screw ups with cement, drilling mud, fluid pressure, mismanaged tests, and poor decisions. Therefore, this device should be improved so it doesn’t happen again. They have discovered that it has been the device operator’s fault in view of the fact that the blowout preventer hasn’t been tested accurately, there were problems in the wiring and dead batteries. In order to clean the oil excess, they used powerful chemicals, which they don’t know the effects of on the environment. It was from 1.6km down to the bottom. After this cause, the British Petroleum (BP) went into investigation, negotiating with more than 50 expertise from within BP and industry. Not only...
Words: 1281 - Pages: 6
...High School BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Investigation Subject: Geography Level: High (HL) Name: Stephanie Chinese: 姜智旻 Homeroom: 10-5 Word count: 1088 Student number: 4192 Supervisor: Craig Hamilton   On 20th of August 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Gulf of Mexico exploded then sunk resulting to 11 deaths. During the 87 days, about 4.9 billion barrels of oil had already spread. An estimation of 42,000 gallon of oil is oozing from underwater. From then 75,000km2 was not allowed for fishing.  Apparently, the blowout preventer device had bad managements and operations, and failed. Investigators said, “The problems with this blowout preventer were worse than we understood.†(Seth, 2014) In addition, investigators have stated that the cause of this explosion was because of the screw ups with cement, drilling mud, fluid pressure, mismanaged tests, and poor decisions. Therefore, this device should be improved so it doesn’t happen again. They have discovered that it has been the device operator’s fault in view of the fact that the blowout preventer hasn’t been tested accurately, there were problems in the wiring and dead batteries. In order to clean the oil excess, they used powerful chemicals, which they don’t know the effects of on the environment. It was from 1.6km down to the bottom. After this cause, the British Petroleum (BP) went into investigation, negotiating with more than 50 expertise from within BP and industry...
Words: 1281 - Pages: 6
...BP Oil Spill Introduction The United States consumes 19.5 million barrels of oil each day. (Rahman,K. Sabeel, 2011) This demonstrates how dependent the American society is on fossil fuel. This need for large amount of oil to keep the economy moving is having serious environmental impact, particularly in areas where large off shore drilling platforms are located. Each year, approximately one billion gallons of oil is spilled in the ocean. The BP oil spill accident is just of the many oil spills that have occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. There are several events that led to this accident. Firstly was the last of control over the pressure in the well. This followed by the failure of the well blowout preventer. This is a valve which was designed to maintain consistent conditions of the well. Then the slurry cement which was used at the bottom of the well failed to contain hydrocarbon within the reservoir, which allows gas and liquids to flow up the production casing. At the same time BP and Tranocean accepted a negative pressure test which was incorrect and so integrity of the well was not established. Where there was supposed to be a separation of the mud and gas, this was not working, causing gas to vent directly on to the rig instead of being diverted overboard. The gas then flowed in to the engine room through the ventilation system which then created a potential for ignition, which was suppose to have been prevented by the rig’s fire and gas system. ( Durando. Jessica...
Words: 2264 - Pages: 10
...BP Oil Spill Introduction: On the evening of April 22nd, 2010, a gas released and subsequent explosion occurred on the deck of Transocean Deepwater oil rig that was on the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven were killed and many were injured during the thirty-six hours it burned while hydrocarbons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico before it was closed off and sealed. The oil slick was produced by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that covered almost 29,000 square miles. The disaster was quickly declared the largest oil spill in United States history. Not only was the ocean surface glazed with oil sheen, the impact on the marine ecosystem below the surface and onshore was devastating. Many concerns were raised about the environmental impact of chemicals known as dispersants that were used to dissipate the oil slick. Governmental agencies and others worked together to control the spill and minimize the impact that it would have on the environment and human health by containing it and cleaning up whatever came ashore. “Oil spills can affect water in a variety of ways it spreads out into a very thin layer across the surface which is called slick and it expands till it’s extremely thin”.(Bourne, 2010, p.2) The Deepwater Horizon oil spill wasn’t an unavoidable accident it was the results from negligence and avarice. The oil spill sparked heated debates regarding a variety of issues; the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, government regulations and which organization was more at fault. Key...
Words: 3002 - Pages: 13
...FEATURE pubs.acs.org/est Oil Biodegradation and Bioremediation: A Tale of the Two Worst Spills in U.S. History Ronald M. Atlas* University of Louisville, Louisville Kentucky 40292, United States Terry C. Hazen Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States ABSTRACT: The devastating environmental impacts of the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and its media notoriety made it a frequent comparison to the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the popular press in 2010, even though the nature of the two spills and the environments impacted were vastly di erent. Fortunately, unlike higher organisms that are adversely impacted by oil spills, microorganisms are able to consume petroleum hydrocarbons. These oil degrading indigenous microorganisms played a signi cant role in reducing the overall environmental impact of both the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills. ’ INTRODUCTION TO BIODEGRADATION OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS Petroleum hydrocarbons in crude oils, such as those released into marine ecosystems by the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon spills, are natural products derived from aquatic algae laid down between 180 and 85 million years ago. Crude oils, composed mostly of diverse aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, regularly escape into the environment from underground reservoirs. Because petroleum hydrocarbons occur naturally in all marine environments, there has been time for numerous diverse microorganisms to evolve the capability...
Words: 1028 - Pages: 5
...BP Oil Spill | Case Study Analysis | | Disclaimer: To start things off, I would like to mention that the BP Oil Spill is an extremely complicated case and its impact could be felt in every corner of the world. Therefore, my case study is only the tip of the iceberg and should not be used to judge the entire controversy. In addition, all statistics and information have been obtained from other sources. Enjoy! | | By: Haikang Zhu | For: Professor Bill WoofClass: Mgmt 1040 DDate: December 9th, 2010 | | BP (British Petroleum) is a global oil and gas company based in London, England. To date, it is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world in terms of revenues. Bp has operations in over 80 countries, produces around 3.8 million barrels of oil per day and has approximately 22,400 service stations worldwide. One major controversy that has been following every single oil and gas companies is the sustainability of offshore drillings and their impacts on the environment and the potential problems that might occur. Unfortunately for BP, On April 20th 2010, the dreaded problem occurred. The drilling rig known as the Deepwater Horizon Rig exploded, immediately killing 11 men and injuring 17 others. The incident took place in the Gulf of Mexico and is the worst environment disaster in the history after the Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska. The oil spill stemmed from a sea-floor sea gusher and was the result of the explosion of the drilling...
Words: 2679 - Pages: 11
...Name Public Relations PR Response Analysis to BP Oil Spill Instructor May 1, 2015 PR Response Analysis to BP Oil Spill This is an analysis of BP’s PR responses to several public audiences and industries after the BP Oil Spill disaster that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. This disaster is also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The spill began on April 20th, 2010 on the BP-owned Transocean operated Macondo Prospect. The catastrophe stemmed from a gas release and ensuing explosion on the oil rig. According to BP’s website, “We acted to take responsibility for the clean-up, working under the direction of the federal government to respond swiftly to compensate people affected by the impact of the accident, to look after the health, safety and welfare of the large number of residents and people who helped respond to the spill, and to support the economic recovery of the Gulf Coast’s tourism and seafood industries impacted by the spill. We have conducted studies with federal and state natural resource trustees to identify and define the injury to natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico”. BP allowed their use of social media to expose their corporation’s lack of professionalism and customer service. By addressing important topics from this disaster through social media channels they compromised their integrity immediately. It also was perceived as hiding behind a forum that was less than ideal to use for this particular situation. Society and certain industries can instantly...
Words: 2476 - Pages: 10
...Topic: An analysis of the corporate social responsibility demonstrated by BP in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico | | | | | 9/15/2010 | | ------------------------------------------------- Topic: An analysis of the corporate social responsibility demonstrated by BP in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico SECTION 1: Introduction The explosion on the Deepwater Horizontal rig on 20 April 2010 led to a serious consequence. A large area of oil spill spread through the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, this accident killed 11 people. (BP Global, 2010) Generally speaking, BP on the surface achieve the highest level of CSR, the discretionary responsibility which is the highest level in the pyramid of CSR. It includes economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic (discretionary) responsibilities (From bottom to the top) (Carroll, 1999, as cited by Lindgreen, et al, 2009). However, comments from the public and the US government appear to be unsatisfactory to the action taken by BP in this case. This essay will analysis the social responsibility demonstrated by BP by first looking at three journal articles from 2000 to 2010 written by Bird, Hall, Momente and Reggiani (2007); Shen and Chang (2009); and Udayasankar (2008), to further elaborate the insights in the articles and the academic theories into the application of the oil spill case in the Gulf of Mexico SECTION 2: Corporate Social Responsibility Article one Bird, Hall, Momente and Reggiani (2007) examine in...
Words: 2072 - Pages: 9
...DR . RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW A project submitted for the research work undertaken in the preparation of research paper on the following topic. TOPIC British petroleum oil spill and its ecological impact on the US economy. SUBJECT ENGLISH SUBMITTED BY : - UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF :- Mrs. ALKA SINGH ROLL NO: SECTION : SEMESTER : Acknowledgement I owe my deepest gratitude to mu supervisor, Mrs. Alka Singh, whose encouragement , guidance and support from the intial to the final level enabled me develop an understanding of the subject and helped in the completion of the project. Lastly , I offer my regards and blessings to al those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the project. Contents * Company background * Facts of Problem under discussion- Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010) * Efforts to contain the Flow of oil * Permanent Closure by ‘Static Kill’ Operation * Areas affected – * Impact on US economy as a whole * Environment and ecological impact * Fisheries * Tourism * Individual impacts on states * Louisiana * Florida * Alabama * Unaccounted Oil * Commercial Law Suits * Damages paid * Long term effects * Reference Company Background * Name – British Petroleum * Founded- 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company 1954 as the British Petroleum Company 1998...
Words: 2809 - Pages: 12
...communities in which BP operates and M3: Explain the ethical concerns of the communities in which a selected business operates and suggest measures that could be taken to improve corporate responsibility. Introduction: Within this report I will be explaining the ethical concerns for my chosen business BP and I will also be explaining what measurements BP carried out due to their ethical concerns. Some of BP’s ethical concerns: 1) The BP Oil Spill released over 200 million gallons of crude oil in which was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for around 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in history. 2) The oil spill caused 16,000 total miles of coastline to be affected, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida coasts. 3) The gushing oil was stopped in July 2010; but oil is still washing up on shores, which will cause long-term damages to people and animals living in the area. 4) Over 8,000 animals were reported dead as quick as 6 months after the spill. 5) The oil explosion killed in total 11 people and injured 17 others. Environment concerns 200 million gallons of crude oiled flowed into the Gulf of Mexico in which caused an explosion of the deep-water horizon oil rig. Oil and gas manufacture projects can have major implications on air, water and the wildlife. BP states that they try to diminish the environmental impact from the earliest stages of planning to the dismantling stage. Four years after the BP oil spill, environmental...
Words: 569 - Pages: 3
...London, England. The initial name of BP is the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909; in 1954 it changed to its present name British Petroleum. It is combined and reconstructed by the former British Petroleum, Amoco and ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company). BP’s business has spread to many fields including oil and natural gas, alternative fuels, the production of petroleum based product, aviation fuels and its business about the solar electric power generation is also growing very fast. Since 1981, BP has set up 12 branch companies successively in many fields such as mineral, food, ship, international finance, international detergent with its business spread to more than a hundred countries all over the world. BP has nearly 110,000 employees work all over the world. In 2003, BP is ranked on the FORTUNE as the first five global top 500 companies. Deepwater horizon oil spill and deepwater horizon explosion On 20th April, 2010, the Gulf of Mexico suffered a lot from a great catastrophe of oil spill. The drilling platform of the British Petroleum Corporation exploded in the deepwater horizon in the Gulf of Mexico which led to 11 workers death and very severe environment pollution. This event is regarded as the most severe oil spill incident in the history of America.。 Many people are curious about this catastrophe and people did not know what cause it and what actions would BP take. According to the inspection report BP made on 8th September, BP thought this catastrophe is not only...
Words: 2694 - Pages: 11
...the Florida Straight, forming the Gulf Stream (The Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). With over 600,000 square miles of area and 16,000 miles of shoreline, the Gulf of Mexico supports a host of economic activities. Tourism, shipping, agriculture, fishing, fisheries, oyster production, shrimp production, oil and gas production, and more from the Gulf produce annual economic activities in excess of $234 billion (Hargreaves, 2010). Oil and gas industry creates $124 billion annually, the largest chunk of Gulf economic activities (Hargreaves, 2010). This industry, while creating the largest economic impact in the area, is also responsible for creating its largest ecological disaster. On April 20, 2010, The BP and Transocean operated oilrig Deepwater Horizon had recently suspended drilling operations more that 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana’s coast (Rigzone). BP had filed a permit to temporarily abandon the well and move the rig to a new location. At 10 p.m. an explosion ripped through the rig killing 11 workers (Rigzone). A bubble of methane gas escaped the well and traveled up the well bore, expanding as it climbed. The combustible bubble of gas burst through the barriers designed to contain it, bypassing the blowout preventer, and making it to the rig where the friction from the bubble could create a static charge and...
Words: 4380 - Pages: 18
...environmental disaster that impacts the Gulf of Mexico of which the long term effects will not be known for generations to come. British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon On April 10, 2010 the offshore drilling rig, operated by the world’s sixth largest oil producer British Petroleum, erupted in flames. The result of this disaster caused “170 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico” ("NRDC.org", 2011, p. 4), killing 11 people, and creating what could be the largest ecological disaster of the 21st century. This disaster is considered by many to be the largest oil spill ever to occur. Clean up efforts are still ongoing after almost two years. British Petroleum (BP) has spent billions of dollars in cleanup cost, restitution and community development; however the greater effects on the environment will not be determined for many years to come. The direct cause of this disaster has been identified as mechanical failure of a blowout preventer located at the base of the well directly above the site entry on the bottom of the sea floor. When this mechanical valve failed, it cause as large plum of highly flammable gas to erupt from the oil well and ignite. After an explosion on the surface, fire raged out of control for over 36 hours. After three days, the floating oil rig sank to the bottom of the ocean floor some 5000 ft below the surface. Oil continued to flow from the well site until it was contained on July 15th, 2010(British Petroleum [BP], n.d., para. 3)....
Words: 2701 - Pages: 11
...Analysis of BP’s Response to the spill in the Gulf BP’s Response to the Deepwater Horizon Spill On April 20, 2010 an unprecedented oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. BP suffered not only personnel and equipment loss, but public relations loss as well. Many Americans felt outraged at BP for the effects of the spill on the Gulf Coast communities. Although the media immediately discussed the environmental implications of the disaster, many people felt that the impacts on the Gulf Coast communities, such as the negative effects on the seafood and tourism industries, received inadequate attention. An article that came out less than two months after the spill in The Working Waterfront mirrored the feelings of many Americans, “Each day we are confronted with media coverage of oiled birds, coastal wetlands, beaches and aggrieved local politicians, but little about the personal and community impacts ” (Herz, 2010). BP lost its good reputation and needed to create an initiative to show its commitment to the communities in which it resides. In an attempt to rebuild its reputation, BP’s “Gulf of Mexico Restoration” website uses these three strategies: it uses testimonies of Gulf Coast locals to highlight BP’s understanding of Gulf communities; it uses images of its sponsored events to highlight BP’s involvement and immersion in those communities, and it uses repetition of the word “engage” to emphasize its commitment to the Gulf and the people in it. BP uses testimonies of southern-accented...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4
...London, England. The initial name of BP is the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909; in 1954 it changed to its present name British Petroleum. It is combined and reconstructed by the former British Petroleum, Amoco and ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company). BP’s business has spread to many fields including oil and natural gas, alternative fuels, the production of petroleum based product, aviation fuels and its business about the solar electric power generation is also growing very fast. Since 1981, BP has set up 12 branch companies successively in many fields such as mineral, food, ship, international finance, international detergent with its business spread to more than a hundred countries all over the world. BP has nearly 110,000 employees work all over the world. In 2003, BP is ranked on the FORTUNE as the first five global top 500 companies. Deepwater horizon oil spill and deepwater horizon explosion On 20th April, 2010, the Gulf of Mexico suffered a lot from a great catastrophe of oil spill. The drilling platform of the British Petroleum Corporation exploded in the deepwater horizon in the Gulf of Mexico which led to 11 workers death and very severe environment pollution. This event is regarded as the most severe oil spill incident in the history of America.。 Many people are curious about this catastrophe and people did not know what cause it and what actions would BP take. According to the inspection report BP made on 8th September, BP thought this catastrophe is not only...
Words: 2694 - Pages: 11
