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The Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill
The Deepwater Horizon was a drilling rig owned by Transocean, Inc. British
Petroleum (BP) leased this rig to drill an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig housed 126 people who were employed by many
different companies, including Transocean and BP, all working to drill the oil well. In the spring of 2010, the rig drilled a well in Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.
The ocean depth was about 5000 feet. The process of production was underway. At a deep-water well like this one, a pipe carries the oil from deep in the Gulf floor up to a
platform that floats on the water’s surface. Here the oil is collected and shipped to land
for us to use.
April 20, 2010, 9:45 p.m.: Gas, oil and concrete from the Deepwater Horizon explode up the wellbore onto the deck and then catches fire. The explosion kills 11 platform workers and
injures 17 others; another 98 people survive without serious physical injury.
After burning for 2 days, the entire platform collapsed and sank to the bottom of the ocean (at this site the water depth was approximately 5000 feet). The sinking platform pulled the pipe leading from the well on the ocean floor down with it. The broken pipe began leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate.
Oil leaking from the drill pipe of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after it sank on April 22, 2010/Photo by: U.S. Coast Guard/Associated Press
As the days progressed, the effects of the oil spill grew. Click on the image below to view a timeline and changing map of the oil
as it effects larger portions of the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil spill halted fishing for parts of the Gulf Of Mexico. Fishermen were out of work for a long period of time. Why were parts of the Gulf of Mexico closed to fishing?
Look at the following images and diagrams. Think about the pros
and cons of human dependence on ocean resources.
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