Deep Water Horizont Oil

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

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"2010 oil spill" and "BP oil spill" redirect here. For other oil spills in 2010, see 2010 oil spill (disambiguation). For the 2006 oil spill involving BP, see Prudhoe Bay oil spill. For the drilling rig and explosion, see Deepwater Horizon (disambiguation).

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Deepwater Horizon oil spill |

The oil slick as seen from space by NASA's Terra satellite on May 24, 2010 |

Location | Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi River Delta, United States |

Coordinates | 28°44′12.01″N 88°23′13.78″W / 28.7366694°N 88.3871611°W / 28.7366694; -88.3871611Coordinates: 28°44′12.01″N 88°23′13.78″W / 28.7366694°N 88.3871611°W / 28.7366694; -88.3871611[1] |

Date | Spill date: April 20 – July 15, 2010

Well officially sealed: September 19, 2010 |

Cause |

Cause | Wellhead blowout |

Casualties | 11 dead |

Operator | Transocean under contract for BP[2] |

Spill characteristics |

Volume | up to 4.9 million barrels (210,000,000 US gallons; 780,000 cubic meters)[3] |

Area | 2,500 to 68,000 sq mi (6,500 to 180,000 km²)[4] |

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster, or the Macondo blowout)[5][6][7] is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.[8][9][10] The spill stemmed from a sea-floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010, explosion of Deepwater Horizon, which drilled on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. The explosion killed 11 men working on the platform and injured 17 others.[11] On July 15, 2010, the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead,[12] after it had...