Case Study: The BP Oil Disaster

A disaster unlinked any other occurred in the United States on May 20th, 2010. Approximately 41 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig resulting in the death of eleven members of the crew, and started the leaking of oil that was in the well. This event would go down as the largest marine oil spill in history and leave many people asking, “How did this happen?” The metaphorical finger has been pointed over the years at BP Oil Company as they were the current owners at the time of the explosion, but there were also outside factors that deserve a portion of the blame. Government officials and contractors have publicly come out and acknowledged that there was wrongdoing on their part along with BP’s faults. This case study is a very broad topic that can be looked at from many angles, but the viewpoint I have chosen is that of the government officials involved with oil rig permits and inspections. The character in question is Barack Obama and his administration who were aware of the issues within the Oil Industry before the Deepwater Horizon …show more content…
It can be very exclusive and tend to keep the same people inside the business. The Deepwater Horizon disaster was not something that happened by accident. When thoroughly analyzing the incident, there should be decisions in the past that directly affected the issue. One major issue that was directly under the Obama administration was the Department of the Interior’s agency the Mineral Management Service(MMS). The MMS was created in 1982 under President Ronald Reagan to manage the nations mineral revenue collection effort and the management of the Outer Continental Shelf(OCL)(“Mineral Management Service.", 1). The MMS oversaw 3,800 facilities and gave inspections monthly before permits were given. The money generated collected was one of the largest non-tax revenues for the United