Deepwater Horizon Oil

Spill
What happened?
On 20th April 2010, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon
drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 52 miles (84km) south-east of
Venice, Louisiana, kills 11 workers. Operator Transocean, under
contract for BP, says it had no warning of trouble ahead of the blast.
Two days later, The Deepwater Horizon sinks to the bottom of the
Gulf after burning for 36 hours, raising concerns of a catastrophic oil
spill. A Coast Guard official says the Macondo well, which the rig had
been drilling, could be releasing up to 8,000 barrels of oil per day.
They had no idea it was leaking 5,000ft below the surface of the
Gulf.
In a reverse, officials reveal the well is leaking an estimated 1,000
barrels of oil per day and warn of environmental disaster.
Meanwhile, BP sends undersea robots to the wellhead in an
unsuccessful effort to activate the blowout preventer, a piece of
heavy kit mounted on top of the well to stem the flow of oil.

Why did it happen?

The rig was drilling in about 5,000ft (1,525m) of water, pushing the
boundaries of deepwater drilling technology. Studies about the
causes are still being conducted by the Department of the Interior.

How is it significant?
Following release of the US government’s latest estimate, the
Deepwater Horizon disaster is confirmed as the biggest ever
accidental release of oil into the oceans. It exceeds the 1979 Ixtoc I
leak - also in the Gulf of Mexico. It's comfortably bigger than tanker
releases such as the Torrey Canyon and Amoco Cadiz, and 20 times
the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill with which it is often
compared.
Eleven workers are still missing, presumed dead, after the
Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on 20 April. A total of 200 million
gallons of oil were spilled into the Gulf for 85 days, threatening
marine life and hundreds of miles of coastline till today.

Consequences
Experts in the field all feel that it is still too soon to conclude the
effects of the disaster even after a year. They also agree that the
health of the Gulf is much better than people feared. The massive
use of dispersants to contain the spilled oil, oxygen depletion and oil
toxicity contributed more significantly to the degradation the
environment in and around the Gulf as the spill occurred deep under
water. Migrating animals like the turtles and dolphins were hurt the
most, many baby dolphins and turtles were found dead. Seabirds
like pelicans were also affected.
After the explosion, a six-month offshore drilling moratorium was
enforced by the United States Department of the Interior. According
to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), offshore drilling
in the Gulf of Mexico accounts for 23.5% of U.S. oil production. The
chief argument in the U.S. offshore drilling debate has been to make
the United States less dependent on imported oil. After the disaster,
the U.S. has to rely more on imported oil.

Conclusion
The Deepwater Horizon disaster shocked the world as it was the
worst marine oil spill in human history. It affected the environment
and the American economy greatly, causing many oil production
companies to reconsider their company management and policies to
prevent a similar event from happening in the future.