BP OIL SPILL

BP Oil Spill

BP Oil Spill

Introduction

The BP oil spill, (Deepwater Horizon oil spill) is an oil spill that flooded unstopped for approximately 03 months in 2010, and could keep on to leaking. It is the biggest accidental oil spill in the sea in the petroleum industry history. BP was heavily criticised for this disaster. In compulsion to stop the oil spill which was flooding towards the Gulf of Mexico, BP worked to perform contradictory functions: posing itself as a figure of a sensible business whereas averting lawful responsibility for the tragedy.

The pressure, which is mirrored lately in BP's choice to carry on employing a compound dispersant is considered toxic by the Environmental Protection Agency, has stimulated a rising view that BP is more determined to defend its own welfare than the public's. Moreover, BP's current Public relations and legal strategy is also under severe criticism. Initially BP reassured everybody that the company would recompense for all destructions associated with the disaster. But later the company's actual approach leaked out. This paper identifies the key issues in the situation and BP's strategy prior to the accident. Moreover it also discusses how can their actions be understood in light of the strategic frameworks you have encountered.

Discussion

On April 20, 2010, a sudden surge of methane from the Macondo oil discovery well resulted in an blast on the rig leased by British Petroleum in the Macondo prospect, fifty miles away from the Mississippi River Delta, off the coast of Louisiana. The explosion and subsequent fire on the rig caused 11 fatalities and further injured 17 people. The initial explosion of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill killed eleven workers and injured seventeen others. The human and environmental costs of the disaster have been colossal, killing thousands of birds and other wildlife, polluting thousands of miles of coastline, and decimating local fishing and tourism industries. (Tsoukas, 2011, 499-528)

The Blowout Preventer (BOP) that is designed to avoid such a disaster - failed to close. According to BP's internal investigation into the causes of the accident, several physical or operational barriers - which were placed to avoid such an accident - failed to control the event due to certain critical factors. BP also highlighted that the BOP failed to prevent the blowout of hydrocarbons largely due to flaws in the repairs management system and hard administration. However, the company's investigation did not pinpoint the cause of the accident to any single action or inaction, but attributed it to a complex inter-linked series of events including mechanical failures, human judgments, and engineering design involving more than one company. US President Barack Obama established an independent National Commission through an Executive Order to investigate into the causes of the accident. (BBC News, 2010)

Oil Spill Estimates

BP employed several approaches to seal the leaking well by using Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), by digging relief wells (with the aim to intersect and block the leaking well), and even trying to clog the well from the top with 'junk' such as ...