Bp Oil Spill Essay

Essay On BP Oil Spill
BP oil spill disaster is considered as one of the largest disasters of its magnitude in the US history
and thus, one of the largest man–made disasters with huge negative impact on the environment. On
20th April 2010, here was an explosion on the Deep–water Horizon drilling rig, which led to the
complete sinking of the offshore rig as well as oil spill that continued for 87 days. Methane gas in
the well expanded to the riser and eventually, to the rig. High–pressured gas got inflamed and led to
explosion. Two days later, Deep–water Horizon sank in the water completely.
During a routine operation at 9:41pm, an explosion took place on the deep–water horizon, leading to
complete destruction of the rig and more importantly, loss of lives. This paper...show more content...
There was an undue increase in pressure, which the personnel on the rig falsely described as the
bladder effect. Due to this, no rig crew was able to discern the mud movement up the riser till it got
too late to react. Different procedures were carried out to try to recover but it all proved abortive.
This event has gone down in history as one of the largest offshore oil spills in history (BP, 2010).
Eye Witness Reports
The eyewitness reports highlight certain comments made by survivors of the incident during and, in
some cases, after the disaster.
"Wyman was convinced something was not right. The captain came beck to me saying we can EDS
but I said I already did"– Chris Pleasant, Subsea Supervisor, Transocean.
"I told myself, you either get up of you lay here and die. My right leg was hung on something but
I pulled it away and came free. Then, I felt something that felt like air. I made it to the hallway and
I realized that what I thought was air was actually methane and I could actually feel the droplets. It
was moist at the side of my face." – Miles 'Randy' Ezell, Senior Toolpusher, Transocean. (Seconds
from
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

BP Oil Spill
Deepwater Horizon rig, which led to the deaths of 11 of the rig workers and the occurrence of the
oil spill. It is documented that the two site leaders observed warning signs that the Mocondo Well
was not secured properly and that oil and gas was leaking from the well. Unfortunately, Kaluza and
Vidrine did not to take proper precautions, which is why they were charged with 11 felony counts of
seaman's manslaughter, 11 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 1 violation of the Clean
Water Act. If BP had a culture that included corporate social responsibility training and education,
that promoted safety before profits, these two men would not be facing life in prison. David I.
Rainey, the Deputy Incident Commander and BP's second highest–ranking...show more content...
They even went as far as setting up a $100 million fund to ensure that future research is conducted to
understand and improve our knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, acknowledged their
social responsibility for the accident and continued effort to clean up any residual oil that may
occur later on down the road. Companies can learn a lot from BP and the swift action it took in
trying to rectify this issue. They were honest about the mistake, proactive in finding a solution, and
the cleanup process. However, want sets them apart is their continued effort to make sure that the
Gulf Coast recovers from the oil spill and a sign of a company that has learned from their

Essay On Bp Oil Spill
The BP oil spill on April 20, 2010 was more than barrels of oil released into the Gulf. The accident
involved a gas release and an explosion that killed 11 men and injured others. Each time this oil spill
is spoke of, there is a monetary cost associated with it. This disaster will have a cost associated for
decades to come. The main cost will be the loss of life and the effects it will have on the families,
co–workers and friends of each man that lost his life. BP will continue to speak of policy changes
and new safety features. They will continue to promote themselves as a forward thinking company
with many great ideas for the future. The sad part is BP's forward thinking has been mostly about
profit. The hefty fined levied...show more content...
Life:
1.The initial oilrig explosion killed 11 people and injured 17 others.
2.An estimated 8,000 animals (birds, turtles, mammals) were reported dead just 6 months after the
spill.
3.An uncountable number of fish and marine life destroyed for years to come.
Economic:
4.In the BP Oil Spill, more than 200 million gallons of crude oil pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for
a total of 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
5.BP is responsible for close to $40 billion in fines, cleanup costs, and settlements, with an additional
$16 billion due to the Clean Water Act.
6.Millions of more dollars will need to be set aside for residual cleanup and future expenses for this
area.
Ecological:
7.Sixteen thousand total miles of coastline affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
8.Of the four hundred miles of the Louisiana coast, one hundred twenty five miles were polluted by
the oil spill.
9.The overall ecological health of the gulf after this disaster will remain in question for years to
come. The inability to measure the extent of damage goes beyond the economics. The overall health
and well–being of these waters may never

BP Oil Spill
The Deep Horizon oil spill caused by British Petroleum (BP) changed the entire economy of the Gulf
of Mexico. Approximately 5 million barrels of oils was released from the spill caused by an
explosion in the oil platform. The explosion was caused by negligence by BP. In the New York
Times article, BP Shortcuts Led to Gulf Oil Spill, Report Says, it states the central problem was
with the cement at the base of the well escalating into human and mechanical errors which led to
gas to shooting up to the platform and exploding causing a fire that killed 11 people. It took about
87 days to stop the flow of the well but the mess of the event is still affecting many people who
inhabit the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and those who use the Gulf as a...show more content...
The oil affected multiple industries that are prevalent in the Gulf that are still recovering or still
facing the problem the spill caused. In 2012 it was calculated that the economy was doing great
because of the influx of people to help with the cleanup effort and the 6 billion BP gave for the spill
was more than the 700 million revenue lost from the fishing and tourism for that year but those costs
do not take in count the long–term problems the spill has had on the economy of the Gulf
(Amadeo). The economy is slowly recovering since the spill but in certain industries it is still
struggling to regain its formal glory. The only solution to improve the economy is to advance
cleanup efforts help get rid of the remaining effects of leftover oil and give more money to research
that studies the effect of the oil spill on the ecosystem, so we can know the full extent of the

BP Oil Spill
THe tragic oil spill involving the BP/Transocean drilling rig Deepwater Horizon has caused
enormous and unwarranted damages in the Gulf of Mexico, and on life; thousands, if not millions,
of people, organizations, and animals face ruination. My thoughts are that, there is no doubt that BP
is accountable not just for its disregard of safety measures that could have kept the spill from
happening, additionally for the inept, shrouded, coercive, and belligerent manner in which it handled
the spill's consequence. Milton argued for a direct type of capitalism enterprise and against any
action that distorts economic freedom.2 Socially mindful activities executed by a firm are, as
indicated by Friedman, hindering economic freedom on the grounds

Bp Oil Spill Analysis Essay
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Scope of Research
The spectrums of oil spill issues are diverse and large. They range from environmental issue to
economic, ecological, ethical, politics and policies. Among many other oil spills, the BP oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico, occurred on April 20, 2010 was recorded as the greatest environmental
disaster in our history (BP leak the world's worst accidental oil spill, 2010).
The goal of our research is to seek possible solutions to reduce the risks of offshore oil spills. To
attain this goal, we gathered information from over twenty sources, including "Deepwater Horizon
oil" from Wikipedia research and an article from the LA Times.
Our research focused mainly on four aspects of the BP oil spill,...show more content...
In 1999, BP was fined $1.7 million for burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery. In the following
year, the company was charged $10 million by the EPA for the air pollution from its U.S. refineries
(Beder, 2002).
BP has also been accused of violating human rights. In 2005, one of BP's refineries in Texas
exploded, caused 15 deaths and 180 injuries. The explosion was largely a result of safety cuts to
reduce costs (Baker et al., 2007). From 2006 to 2008, three workers were killed at BP's Texas
refinery due to equipment failure (Collette, 2008).
II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS
1. Environmental Problems
Environmental Impact
On April 20, 2010, one of BP's drilling wells below the Gulf of Mexico exploded and caused a
disastrous oil spill. Thousands of barrels of crude oil flowed into the gulf every day, causing
widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico (Law Brain, n.d). The habitats of many bird species are
threatened by this oil spill.
The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) listed the top ten most polluted areas from the oil spill:
1. Gulf Coast Least Tern Colony, 2. Lower Pascagoula River, 3. Gulf Islands National Seashore, 4.
Breton National Wildlife Refuge, 5. Dauphin Island, 6. Fort Morgan Historical Park, 7. Bon Secour
National Wildlife Refuge, 8. Eglin Air Force Base, 9. Delta National Wildlife Refuge, and 10.
Baptiste

Bp Oil Spill
Five Lessons from the BP Oil Spill
It's very easy to pile onto BP right now. The "accident," which may be due more to negligence, is
bad enough. The company lost 11 employees – after losing 15 in a high–profile explosion at a
refinery 5 years ago. The damage to the Gulf, its species, and the people who depend on it is almost
incalculable. But surprisingly, it's even easier to criticize BP's behaviour since the explosion – the
company has tried hard to downplay the scale of the tragedy and it has moved slowly to stop the
torrent of oil pouring into the Gulf.
The nightmare is not over and the repercussions in terms of regulations and the future of BP are far
from certain. But it's high time to start sifting through the wreckage for some...show more content...
Unfortunately, Hayward hasn't learned much in the way of media training as he told a reporter this
week that he wants to end this disaster because, "I'd like my life back." Wow.
And the response has seemed awfully slow. Why, for example, has each attempt to stop the leak
been done in a serial fashion? Meaning, when the "top kill" failed, why didn't BP have the next
containment dome in position already instead of waiting a few more days? BP has been acting like
a child that doesn't want to clean up its mess and drags its feet, which is strange, given the
monumental risk to the company.
Environmental risks can threaten the viability of a business. Reducing risk was the core focus of
environmental efforts for many years so it got a bit passГ© as a forward–looking argument for
sustainability. But it certainly is making a comeback now. As someone who's written for years
about how going green can drive profits and growth, I've probably also downplayed the role of risk
reduction in creating green value. So let me make the very easy case for BP's poor risk management.
As of today, BP has lost over a third of market value, worth about $70 billion. Last week, The New
York Times went so far as to suggest that BP could be vulnerable to takeover once all its liabilities
for this spill are accounted for.
Of course for most companies, sustainability–related, enterprise–threatening risks are not quite as
tangible as miles and miles of your

Bp Oil Spill
Disaster in the Gulf: One Year Later Business Policy & Strategy (MAN 4764–1) Everest
University Presented to: Professor Melissa Sweeney Presented by: Burl Hicks April 18, 2014
Disaster in the Gulf: One Year Later 1. What external environment (general, industry, and
competitive) segments do you think BP considered or didn't consider prior to their drilling of the
Gulf Coast? What should the wedding business owners now consider in their external
environment? BP decided to drill in the Gulf Coast mostly because of the oil availability and
competition. Opportunity was definitely considered by BP. The North Sea was saturated with other
oil companies and BP saw an opportunity in the Gulf of Mexico (Pour, 2011). The segment...show
more content...
The oil industry is heavily regulated by the US government, and competition is fierce. BP
skipped certain safety measures for concern of increasing cost of operations, and this led to the
spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company should have invested more in maintaining the oil rig
and making sure there would be no mechanical or technical failure. They failed to do so and
prevent the spill, so that damaged BP's reputation and strained their resources even further. 3.
Analyze BP using the five forces of competition model to determine the industry's current
attractiveness in terms of profit potential. There are five forces of competition: threat of new
entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products,
and rivalry among competing firms (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2013, p. 51). BP is an oil
company, so it has a huge advantage over most of these forces. Oil companies have history dating
back to the early 20th century, so there is really no threat of new entrants. Any business that wishes
to enter the industry needs the resources and capital that only long standing companies can afford.
Product differentiation also plays a huge role, as customers come to believe products from certain
manufacturers are good, and it's difficult to break through this (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson,
2013, p. 53). The company's access to distribution channels also gives it a huge advantage over new
entrants. BP practices

BP Oil Spills
Oil Spills
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....show more content...
The cause was said to be due to a well integrity failure, and a loss of hydrostatic control of the well.
Failure to control the flow from the well with the blowout preventer, balance of plant equipment,
which allowed the release and subsequent ignition of hydrocarbons, the balance of plant
emergency functions failed to seal the well after the initial explosion. A report led by BP stated
the well integrity had not been established, but a particular cement slurry used at the bottom of the
Macondo well failed to contain hydrocarbons within the reservoir, as they were designed to have
which allowed the gas and liquids to flow up the production casing. The rig crew failed to
recognize the influx of hydrocarbons into the well, causing the gas to be vented directly on to the
rig rather than being diverted overboard. The flow of gas into the engine

BP Oil Spill Essay
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon explosion started what would be the largest marine oil
spill in U.S. waters to date. By the time the well was finally capped, nearly 5 million barrels or
205.8 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico (Robertson & Krauss, 2010). To put
this into some context of comparison, the New Your Times did a calculation and estimated the oil
flow to be the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez every 8 to 10 days– the spill lasted 83 to 87 days
depending on sources. Now for the human cost – 11 died in this "accident" (Gillis & Fountain,
2010). I find it interesting that there is little in regards to outrage over the loss of human life as
compare to the environmental impact. I am in no way downplaying...show more content...
Waxman's (Chairman) letter to Mr. Hayward before his testimony in front of the Committee on
Energy and Commerce. The first area of concern for the Committee and Chairman was a
statement, five days before the explosion, by one of BP's engineers that described the Macondo
well was a "nightmare well." The Committee was also seeking answers for decisions that were
made and what appeared, in the Committee's opinion, to be in violation of industry standards, for
economic gain, and were against the advice of BP's own personal that an increase in well failure
could happen. At the time of the explosion, the Macondo well was behind schedule and the
Committee addressed decisions that were made that clearly point to cost savings and expediency
over safety. In particular, they addressed five areas: 1) the decision to use a well design with few
barriers to gas flow; 2) the failure to use a sufficient number of centralizers to prevent channeling
during the cement process; 3) the failure to run a cement bond log to evaluate the effectiveness of
the cement job; 4) the failure to circulate potentially gas bearing drilling muds out of the well; and
5) the failure to secure the wellhead with a lockdown sleeve before allowing pressure on the seal
from below (Ingersoll, Locke & Reavis,

Bp Oil Spill Essay
On April 20, 2010, BP's oil drilling rig caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout the
following months, the company attempted to keep everyone from stockholders to environmental
activists updated with their cleanup efforts. The mass amounts of oil that spilled into the Gulf
took many years to cleanup. Most of BP's updates came from press releases, along with speaking
to reporters about their cleanup efforts. The idea of writing press releases for a company allows
the public to stay updated with what is going on, but can backfire in the future if the business does
not keep it's word on what they say they will do in the release of the information to the public. On
April 22, 2010, BP sent out a press release. The information included...show more content...
This goes against their press release, which claims BP, has a plan for drilling a relief well. The
relief well was evidently needed, and by May, BP was still months away from its completion.
Knowing this, BP's press release from April was critiqued intensely due to the fact they did not
follow up on what they claimed they could do. The idea that press releases are informative also
causes issues for the company as a whole. If BP does not stand by what they say in the release,
reporters and other individuals will lose faith in the

BP Oil Spill Crisis Essay
BP Oil Spill Crisis
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...show more content...
This disaster of the BP oil spill has caused many deaths: 64 mammals, 2,919 birds, and 489 sea
turtles according to National Wildlife Federation and these numbers are going to continue to rise
year after year till all the oil is cleaned up. Also, the Gulf is home to endangered species. Kemp's
ridley sea turtles are currently listed as endangered, and could go to threatened in the next couple
years. Another example is the Bluefin Tuna which is labeled as endangered and could send them to
extinction due to the massive oil spill. This is one dire effect that is hurting our ecosystem, and this
same instance happened in Alaska with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. A great example of how gruesome
the oil has taken on wildlife, look at Fig. B where a there is an oil–soaked pelican. I believe the
world should change its main source of oil to a different less destructing fuel.
Another effect from the BP oil spill it's jeopardizing the Gulf's billion–dollar fishing and shrimping
industry. With the Gulf accounting for 40–percent of North Americans seafood, it is the second
largest seafood producing area after Alaska, and it's effecting incomes for thousands. The high loss
of seafood is going to change the way many people eat and increase prices because of the shortages.
Also, many small fishers have filed for bankruptcy causing high stress. Captain William Allen–Kruse
was so depressed with the loss of business he shot and killed himself after

Bp Oil Spill
BP OIL SPILL Under the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore drilling ring of British Petroleum (BP)
caused an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred on April 20th 2010, where
equipment failed and caused the explosion sinking the ring, and causing the death of 11 workers
and more than 17 workers injured. The British based energy company also faced other problems
at the site of the oil spill. More than 40 million gallons (estimated data) of oil spewed into the Gulf
of Mexico. Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a very serious threat for the wildlife as it causes water
pollution. The oil spill effected many coastal areas in the US, like the Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi and Florida. The oil spill disaster strongly damaged...show more content...
It is not safe to cut corners and presume that things will not happen. Make ethical decision, have
back up plans, and 'worst case scenario' preparation. If BP would be more ethical and do the right
things either by using the latest safety precautions when drilling (not cutting corners, and
reducing costs), and moving faster and more dynamically when the disaster occurred, they could
have avoided billions in cleanup and damages that they faced and are still facing now. The BP oil
spill has offered a moment for reflection for leaders around the world about their most basic
beliefs. To many people, the BP oil spill has brought home the idea that future corporate leaders
must develop personal ethical standards for making decisions that go beyond just a financial
calculation. There are plenty of business practices that are legal, but fall short in being ethical. But I
believe being ethical does pay off, slowly and steadily. You may lose some opportunities, but your
reputation and self–perception is

Bp Oil Spill Essay

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from Paper Writing Services Reviews

More from Paper Writing Services Reviews (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Bp Oil Spill Essay