Strategic Analysis
An Exploration of The Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill Tragedy
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The British Petroleum oil leak accident is considered as one of the biggest accident of its nature in the United States history and therefore one of the largest man-made cataclysms with colossal negative influence on the environment. An explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig led to an oil gusher on the 20th April, 2010. The explosion was triggered by the rising and expansion of methane gas in the well in the early hours that morning. The high pressure methane gas ignited, leading to the massive explosion. Two days later, the Deepwater Horizon rig finally submerged in its entirety.
This paper aims at analyzing the oil spill accident by British Petroleum from an economic, social and environmental viewpoint. This report will include probable roots and the circumstances of the occurrence and exploration of them, whether it is the failure of safety engineering, safety management system of the company or fault stemmed by the human dynamic of employees of British Petroleum.
The analysis was also done by assessing the accident risk level. Moreover, the financial implications of the accidental oil spill, the effects on the adjacent human population as well as the effect on the vegetation and wildlife in the Atlantic Ocean is also dealt with in details.
As per to the Deepwater Horizon Accident Investigation Report (2010), hydrocarbons in the semi-submersible drilling rig escaped because of loss of hydrostatic control of the Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico. This inadvertently led to the explosion of the rig. The fire stemming om the explosion kept on burning for approximately 36 hours and almost 5 billion barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico (Gossens, 2012). It...