Source: BP Internal Investigation ,News & Magazine (MSNBC, Guardian, Newswire, Fortune) & Wikipedia

At approximately 9:45 p.m. CDT on April 20, 2010, methane gas from the well, under high pressure, shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded. Fire then engulfed the platform . Most of the workers escaped the rig by lifeboat and were subsequently evacuated by boat or airlifted by helicopter for medical treatment; however, eleven workers were never found despite a three-day Coast Guard search operation, and are presumed to have died in the explosion. Efforts by multiple ships to douse the flames were unsuccessful. After burning for approximately 36 hours, the Deepwater Horizon sank on the morning of April 22, 2010

Mar 23, 2005 at Refinery near Galveston, Texas City Blast from vapor cloud killed 15 people; 23 fatalities in 3 decades before the blast. Four months later at Thunder Horse, an offshore platform in Gulf of Mexico, shoddy work caused ballast tank to flood costing hundreds of millions of dollars in repair and 3-year delay in commissioning.

Mar 2006, corrosion in BPs Alaskan pipelines caused 267,000 US gallon oil leak due to aging pipe costing USD373 million. Record fine by OSHA in 2009 for failure to abate hazards at Texas City Hundreds of willful safety violation out of 829 in Texas City from Jun 2007 to Feb 2010

Weve got a big problem in the Gulf of Mexico!

- Andy Inglis Voicemail to BP CEO, Tony Hayward. Hayward has just returned from a five-mile run in Hyde Park

Some crews called Macondo No 1 well as well from hell due to numerous problems which caused 45 days delay and USD58million over budget. 4 VIPs were present on the day the event happened to recognize Deepwater Horizon achievement of no LTI in 7 years and bridge the gap between top management and rig crews.

BP oil spill response plan as well as other major oil companies (Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron) are not effective talks about Arctic wildlife, same ineffective equipment and same long-dead expert among others.

There are numerous incidents of gas pressure entering the well; tolerable individually but potentially cataclysmic when accumulating. BP used only six out of 21 centralizers required after wrong kind were received. Who cares cited one BP Drilling Engineers. probably be fine

Cement mixture that failed multiple test in labs were used and was not verified by BP. No test was done after cementing work; experts flown to the rig was sent home without doing any work. During negative-pressure test, one success was accepted as representative ignoring 3 failed tests.

Id like my life back

- Tony Hayward Hayward replied to a journalist while touring through sludge-stained beaches, Venice, LA.

Improper well design Improper cement design Early warning signs were not properly detected, analyzed or corrected Removing the pressure barrier displacing drilling mud with sea water 8,000 feet below the drill deck Flawed design and maintenance of the final line of defense the blowout preventer

What the hell did we do to deserve this?

- Tony Hayward Hayward asked colleagues shortly after Deepwater Horizon rig exploded

Complacent among main factor that lead to the disaster Political pressure and the need for more profits lead to cost cutting and willful safety violation Government oversight; government regulators did not have sufficient knowledge or authority to notice these cost-cutting decisions

Better management of decision-making processes within BP and other companies, better communication within and between BP and its contractors and effective training of key engineering and rig personnel would have prevented the Macondo incident.

Image of the Deepwater Horizon from owner's website (Transocean)

Vessels combat the fire on the Deepwater Horizon

An oil containment boom deployed by the U.S. Navy surrounds New Harbor Island, Louisiana.

Ship navigates through ribbons of oil on the Gulf of Mexico, May 6, 2010

Gulf of Mexico oil spill as seen from the International Space Station, May 4, 2010.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37279113/n s/nightly_news/ http://environment.about.com/od/environ mentalevents/tp/10-Things-You-Need-ToKnow-About-The-Deepwater-Horizon-OilSpill.htm http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 010/sep/08/deepwater-horizon-rig-bpreport http://www.docstoc.com/docs/54665293/B P-Oil-Spill-Deepwater-Horizon-InternalInvestigation-Report