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BRITISH PETROLEUM
DEEP WATER HORIZON
DISASTER

CASE STUDY
BSA 3Y1 – 1 (GROUP 1)

BRITISH PETROLEUM |  Macondo Prospect, in the North-central Gulf of Mexico, United States
 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Introduction

BP, BP plc (formerly The British Petroleum Company plc and BP Amoco plc) is a British multinational
oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#2010_to_present

The Deepwater Horizon, perhaps the most infamous oil spill in recent history is the Deepwater Horizon.
Caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 210 million gallons of oil were spilled into the
Gulf of Mexico, affecting thousands of marine lives and making this the largest marine oil spill in history.

https://www.idealresponse.co.uk/blog/the-10-biggest-oil-spills-in-history/

Statement of the Problem

On 20 April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a major industrial accident, happened. Explosion on
the Deepwater Horizon oil rig—located in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 41 miles (66 km) off the
coast of Louisiana—and its subsequent sinking on April 22.

A chain of equipment malfunctions, coupled with a failed attempt to seal the well, ignites the oil, and kills
the crews handling the oil well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_(film)#Box_office

Relevant Facts

The impact of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the subsequent Macondo well oil leak was
devastating on a number of fronts, the most obvious being the death of 11 crew members and the injuries
sustained by another 17.

The oil leak was discovered on the afternoon of April 22, 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at
the former rig site. The oil flowed for 87 days. BP originally estimated a flow rate of 1,000 to 5,000
barrels per day. The Flow Rate Technical Group (FRTG) estimated the initial flow rate was 62,000
barrels per day. The total estimated volume of leaked oil approximated 4.9 million barrels.

The environmental damage from the oil spill was extensive, with 25 national wildlife refuges in its path.
Oil was found on the shores of all five Gulf States, and was responsible for the death of many birds, fish,
and reptiles.

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 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Disaster

10-110-BP-Deepwater-Horizon-Locke.Review

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said BP was mostly to blame for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico
disaster, and Barbier attributed 67% of the fault to BP, 30% to Transocean, which owned the
Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and 3% to Halliburton, the cement contractor.

He ruled that BP will be "subject to enhanced civil penalties" due to its "gross negligence" and "wilful
misconduct".

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-29069184

Although BP attempted to activate the rig’s blowout preventer (BOP), a fail-safe mechanism

designed to close the channel through which oil was drawn, the device
malfunctioned. Forensic analysis of the BOP completed the following year determined that a set
of massive blades known as blind shear rams—designed to slice through the pipe carrying oil—
had malfunctioned because the pipe had bent under the pressure of the rising gas and oil. (A
2014 report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board claimed that the blind shear rams had activated
sooner than previously thought and may have actually punctured the pipe.)

https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

Safety Issues at BP In the mid-2000s, disaster struck BP twice within a 12-month period. The first
happened on March 23, 2005 when an explosion at BP’s Texas City Refinery killed 15 people and injured
another 180, and resulted in financial losses exceeding $1.5 billion. BP commissioned James Baker, a
former U.S. secretary of state and oil industry lawyer, to write an investigative report on the Texas City
tragedy. One of the key findings highlighted in the Baker Report was that the company had cut back on
maintenance and safety measures at the plant in order to curtail costs, and that responsibility for the
explosion ultimately rested with company senior executives.

10-110-BP-Deepwater-Horizon-Locke.Review.pdf

Analysis

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 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Conclusion

As of early 2011, investigations into the actual causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster were ongoing,
and the various parties involved in the Macondo well project were engaged in a highly publicized finger
pointing exercise. The three major decisions on closing the Macondo well involving the well casing, the
number of centralizers used, and the decision not to perform a cement bond log may have contributed to
the conditions that caused the well to blow out. Regardless of what the ultimate causes are found to be,
the conditions on the Deepwater Horizon, and the culture and organizational architecture of BP and its
relationships with its contractors is worth examining. Each of the three decisions discussed above, as well
as decisions on how to convey dangerous model results and earlier decisions about how best to structure
incentive systems, may have played a role in the outcome. Throughout the decision-making process, we
see some actors who were advocates of caution over cost, for fixing problems even when inconvenient.
Yet court testimony indicates that the three key decisions, and perhaps others as well, came down on the
side of cost-reduction and expediency, over caution.

10-110-BP-Deepwater-Horizon-Locke.Review.pdf

Recommendations

The oil business is extreme work. The management should hire a dedicated professional to be part
of a crucial and dangerous work such as oil mining that requires an extreme focus because this job
requires teamwork, with just one wrong decision that could affect all parts of the workplace.

Fix the internal control between the merger of BP plc and Transocean Ltd. Both companies should
be sending a professional that does not have a conflicting interest and personal interest by
themselves. They should think of success for the whole company.

Routinely check the conditions of the machinery and equipment. If there is broken or could
malfunction during the mining is ongoing.

(pwede nyo to palitan, ayan lang yung opinion ko.)

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 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Alternatives

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