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On April 20, 2010 there was an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig operated by Transocean, a company that is under contract to the British Petroleum Corporation, or BP. The explosion left 11 people dead and 17 injured; it occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, near the Mississippi River Delta, about 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The explosion was caused by a wellhead that blew out 5,000 feet below the surface on the sea floor, resulting in oil gushing into the Gulf at a rate that is not easy to determine due to the difficulty of measuring such an event at such a depth; current estimates are 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Original estimates were much lower but the estimated amount seems to increase as time goes on. The crude oil continues to flow into the Gulf unabated; as this is written it has been gushing continuously for 73 days. Over 7 million barrels of oil have been released into the Gulf of Mexico over an area that is estimated at 2,500 to 9,100 square miles. Efforts have been made to stem the flow at the wellhead, so far without success, and such efforts continue. This oil spill is massive. It is the largest offshore oil spill in United States history.
The damage to the Gulf is wreaking havoc on the economy of the land that lies along the Gulf Coast. In particular, the fishing industry and the tourism industry Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have been hit hard. The height of hurricane season is coming in August and September and there are fears of what massive damage a powerful hurricane might inflict should it hit the Gulf.
Efforts are currently underway to drill two new relief wells into the original well in an effort to stem the flow, but these are not expected to be completed until mid-August. And even then, the results that can be expected are uncertain.
This is a terrible, terrible event. There are so many repurcussions. There is damage to the economy of the Gulf Coast states, and that of the Central American countries that border the Gulf. The wildlife that draws its sustenance from the Gulf is suffering horribly. It is an environmental disaster of the worst kind. Litigation will go on for many years. Families who drawn their livelihood from fishing in the Gulf for generations are at a loss as to what to do. Coastal communities employ thousands of oil workers. Real estate prices have dropped. Hotel bookings are significantly decreased. The severity of health consequences remains to be determined.
Most of the blame and anger over this disaster seems to be aimed at British Petroleum. The repurcussions will continue to be felt for years, even decades.
What do I think about this? Well, first of all, it surprises me that such a massive disaster can occur and be ongoing for over ten weeks now, and no one seems to know an effective means for stopping it quickly. Other oil companies that drill in the Gulf do not seem to have a ready solution to offer either. So I think one thing that should be done is to give the oil companies that drill in the Gulf an ultimatum: present a plan for how to deal with such an event effectively in the future -- and submit that plan before a specified date -- or pay enormous fines until such a workable plan is in place. I would imagine there will be calls for offshore drilling to be discontinued, but I would oppose that for this reason: we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil significantly with what is available in the Gulf, and I think that reducing our dependance on foreign oil should be a very high priority in today's world.
My heart goes out to all those who are suffring as a result of this disaster. What do you think?
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Send email to the author, Tom Simon tsimon@tsimon.com.