BP's Macondo Blow-out, Gulf of Mexico - Research Paper Example

This explosion caused injuries to 17 people and led to 11 deaths of those who were working on the platform. The gushing wellhead was capped on July 15, 2010 after releasing nearly 4.9 million barrels of crude oil, the equivalent of 780,000m3.it was approximated that per day there was a loss of 53,000 barrels from the well before it was capped (Freudenburg and Robert 23). The daily flow rate had diminished with time beginning with around 62,000 barrels per day and this decreased as the hydrocarbons reservoir feeding the gusher depleted gradually.

The relief well process was completed successfully on September 19, 2010. The location was at the Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi River Delta, United States. The spill date was between 20th April and 15th July 2010. It was officially sealed on 19th September 2010. The main cause was a wellhead blowout. The main operator who was working at the well was Transocean under contract for BP. The amount of the spill was approximately 4.9 million barrels in volume covering an area of between 2,500 to 68,000 square miles.

The Gulf of Mexico is renowned as a rich hydrocarbon province. The oil and gas in deep water reservoirs in this area is often under extremely high pressure, which was a challenge to the drilling of the well. Prior to the blowout, the exploratory well was at a water depth of nearly 5,000 feet (1,500 m) (Freudenburg and Robert 23). . In addition, the operations would have used complicated set of anchors, connected with cables that would have needed to be miles long. Initially, BP’s Macondo well was to explore prehistoric leftovers in the form of oil that was seen as a petroleum geologist’s version of literary license (Read 17).

Prior to the blowout, the rig was constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries, which was a South Korean company. Its ownership was by Transocean and was under lease to BP from March 2008 to September 2013. The principle developer and main operator of the Macondo Prospect was BP with a 65% share while Anadarko Petroleum Corporation owned 25% and, Moex Offshore 2007, which is a unit of Mitsui, owned 10% share (Read 25). After the accident, President Obama created the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to investigate the main cause.

The commission summarized that the accident occurred due to oversights, a number of different risk factors, and outright mistakes including overwhelming of the safeguards supposed to avert such an event. According to the White House report on January 2011, the report accused BP and its partners for deliberately making a sequence of cost – cutting decisions. Lack of a system that would ensure well safety was another accusation. The spill caused extensive damage to wildlife and marine habitats and as well as affecting the Gulf’s tourism and fishing industries.

Its effects were also felt worldwide (Macondo report 5). The team recognized a number of risk factors that were technical in the design, testing and execution of the Macondo well. A responsible personnel management, risk, and communications by BP and its partners would certainly have averted the