Engineering Disaster: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The U.S. uses 25% to 30% of the oil produced in the world, yet has less than 3% of known oil reserves,” (Doc C Paragraph 3).This is important because if becoming self-sufficient is impossible than is drilling even worth

For the majority of history, in the United States, crude oil has been the primary source of fuel and energy. Whether it is burning the oil or using it for gas, the product has been used at an excess amount. Even with great success in the search for a new source of energy, America will always be dependent on oil. Upon this realization, the Keystone XL Pipeline was started in 2010. Advancing from southern Canada, through multiple depots in the United States, to its final completion in the southern United States, the pipeline was a lengthy project.

January of 1901 Texas seemed boring for those Texans that were there at the time, But the 20th century was just getting started when one drop of the gooey, black substance that changed Texas in seconds, Oil is its name! January, 1901, on a little hill called Spindletop oil sprouted into a beautiful rose. It made many opportunities in Texas and the US. Oil was used for lots of things like Asphalt (for paving roads), gasoline to fuel cars, trucks,etc. Oil would now be the economic engine for Texas, oil would make a gigantic impact on Texas as a whole.

The main way that oil and natural gas reserves are acquired are through the means of Fracking. Also known as hydrofracking, this method utilizes a drill that drills down thousands of feet underground, which is then flushed with millions of gallons of water along with additive chemicals at high pressures to break the rocks sheltering the reserves. This method of attainment is quite risky as it comes with many unfavorable consequences that are quite unbeneficial. Like fossil fuel plants, fracking also releases greenhouse gasses like methane(Potential Health and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana), which is worse than carbon dioxide and causes air pollution. Alongside that, pollutants like Benzene and Xylene also leak out during the fracking process, which is known to cause serious health conditions and even death in some cases due to the long exposure to the pollutants(Potential Health and

Texas is the largest state in the United States, and the only one to once be its own independent state, giving it the nickname “The Lone Star State.” It is bordered with Mexico, and lies next to the Gulf of Mexico. Since Texas is next to the gulf, it is home to many ports for international trade. However, with so much trade comes the risk of pollution to the gulf, which eventually reaches the shores of many beaches in Texas. One of the worst oil spills in Texas history was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.

With the increased scale of fracking in Texas, one might wonder if the oil boom is affecting our water supply. The value of water in Texas is deeply cherished considering Texas’s dry climate and long-standing droughts. One may even wonder if Texas is valuing its water as much as it is its oil. As research furthers, we can begin to weigh the positive and negative effects of oil fracking. By providing overwhelming data on oil fracking

Despite being a mere 5% of the world’s population, the U.S oil-based economy consumes 25% of the world’s petroleum. In fact, 98% of transportation energy comes from petroleum products. The entire agricultural industry is reliant on oil. This dependence on imported oil has been expected to increase drastically over the next 25 years. Accordingly, the U.S is expected to import 70% of its oil in 2025.

1. Introduction In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform spit nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest oil spill in history. The 1989 oil spill surpassed Exxon Valdez's oil spill in 1989 as the largest oil spill ever seen in US-controlled waters and the Ixtoc I oil spill of 1979 as the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deepwater offshore rig, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 riggers and injuring 17 others.

Most of the oil has already been found, captured, and used already, and this is only the oil we found on land. There are still large amounts of oil untapped that lie in our ocean waters. This new expedition to get this oil has been a gold mine to many countries and oil companies. In fact, according to David Bond (2016), the deep seabed is ideal for large oil fields (36). This type of information shows how our dependence on oil and to search for new and untapped oil fields led to this disaster happening in the first place.

Oil sands are the combination of sand, water, clay and bitumen that can be found in different places around the world like USA, Russia and Canada (Carlisle, 2006). According to Carlisle (2006), the earliest documented oil sands mining operation was set up in 1745 in northeastern France, with refining capabilities added in 1857. Canada and especially Alberta has become one of the biggest countries of oil sands world-wide because of their knowledge in connecting the technology in their project as well as its capacity (Carlisle, 2006). The scientists find that the oil sands are so important in our life, not only because it produce gasoline and diesel for our vehicles but also because it can be improved into crude oil and other petroleum products.

the Crude oil also known as petroleum. Crude oil composed naturally from that remaining part of plants and creatures that died millions years ago and fell underneath of the see. Unrefined (Crude oil) contain hydrocarbons and alkanes in it. The hydrocarbon indicates that crude oil only made of hydrogen and carbon atoms. The hydrocarbon has different structure (straight chains, branching, and rings).

It is commonly known throughout human history that the energy used is burned from coal which creates biomass. During the Industrial Revolution, coal was an essential need to everyone, hence the discovery of oil as a substitute. Yet, the mass formation from the unearthing of oil causes more damage than benefits for the planet. Humanity had never seen a more compatible source in which came a higher demand for oil. As the public has urged to generate more oil, scientists theorized that fossil fuels will eventually run out, making way for a renewable energy route in the future (Mason).

To produce energy, companies burn coal, oil, gas, spin turbines, and build dams. Burning coal is a detrimental option to the environment that produces pollutants and contributes to greenhouse gases. To help with this growing issue, it is preferable to burn oil due the the minimized pollutants and carbon emissions it releases. For the US, fossil fuels are typically imported from other countries primarily being Asian ones.

Oil is a key factor in commercial production, transportation, industrial manufacturing, and much more. It is the single most important source of primary energy in the world. With global exports averaging $1.8 trillion annually, oil is the most traded commodity in the world. The oil industry is so substantial that changes to its market’s conditions have direct and indirect effects on the global economy.

Drilling into Disaster: BP in the Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Mexico is one of the valuable place in which it has variety of marine life, such as fish, shrimp and other species The issues of incident on spill oil should be on concerned as it leads to this disaster for human being and environment. The case is discussed how BP company responses. It means how its board and management accountability, corporate responsibility, risk management, code of conduct and whistleblowing, compensation practices, and stakeholder communications react on this disaster. With regard to the disaster, BP CEO should have behaved appropriately because he should have responsibility on his job and should give his employees a better solution better than not saying anything. The problem was still there even BP change CEO to Dudley.