The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico for BP - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... It took several weeks and months for the oil cleanup team to contain the disaster caused on the marine waters. BP accepted the criminal responsibility hence paying 4.5 billion dollar in damages. Today, the oil company faces its biggest court challenges. The American government said that the company was grossly negligence (Freudenburg & Gramling 2011, p. 173). The paper will provide a comprehensive knowledge of the legal issues and how the case would affect future operations of the company. It will also identify some of the Human Resource issues involved.
After the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, both the American government and the company started their investigations to establish what exactly led to the disaster. They were also required to provide adequate solutions that could prevent future oils spills. Some of the organizations given the authority by the American government to carry out investigations included National Academy of Engineering, Mineral Management Service, and the National Oil Spill Commission (Slorach, Embley, Goodchild & Shephard, 2013, p. 349). This led to many hearings being carried out by the American House Committee on Energy. Consequently, it was discovered that the machine which was used to prevent the rig from blowing had experienced a hydraulic leak and its battery also stopped working. This machine was constructed by the Cameron International Corporation. A number of investigative reports did not only put the blame on BP Oil Company, but also on Transocean. The supervisors misinterpreted the pressure information and ordered the rig operators to substitute the drilling fluid with seawater. This could not prevent the already leaking gas from moving up the rig leading to a huge explosion. Report released by the Oil Spill Commission indicated that the spillage was caused by poor management decisions. The other possible cause was that the well was hurriedly ...Download file to see next pagesRead More