The Deepwater Horizon incident occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. An explosion on the oil rig caused by a blowout during final drilling operations led to 11 fatalities and the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Over 87 days, approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil were discharged from the damaged wellhead located deep on the seabed. The spill had severe environmental and economic impacts on the Gulf region and highlighted the need for improved safety systems and oversight of offshore drilling operations.

1. Deepwater Horizon Incident

4. The accident
• What?
Well blowout, explosion on rig, fatalities
• When?
April 20, 2010
9:49 PM (explosions)
• Where?
Macondo Prospect, Gulf of Mexico,
(Oil Rig of Transocean under contract to BP) (10,683 m record)
• Task
Final phase of drilling exploratory well

6. Blow out Preventer

7. • Cameron International (Texas)
• Location- Seabed
• Kicks in drilling
• Drill mud barrier
• Electric & hydraulic control
• Annular Space
• Close Pipe Ram
• Donut Shape Rubber seal
• Pressure Difference
• Bending
Blow out Preventer

9. Dead man’s switch
• Yellow Pod
Mis-wiring
27V battery to drain
• Blue Pod
two channels
opposed each other
• No diagnostics

10. Aftermath
• Mechanical collection: Collection of
oil using mechanical suction.
• In-situ Burning: Burning of oil in
controlled manner.
• Dispersants: Use of Corexit 9527 oil
dispersant
• Corexit 9527
2-butoxyethanol
eye and skin irritant
central nervous system effects
nausea, vomiting
• Do not get in eyes, on skin, on
clothing
• Wear suitable protective clothing

11. Effect
• 11 fatalities, 17 injuries
• ~4.9 M barrels (206M gallons) oil
spilled
• Negative publicity, loss of share value
• All new drilling stopped in Gulf of
Mexico
• Production stopped - Complete loss of
oil rig
• 180,000km area
• 50% of the 16,000 species
• $5.5 billion (CWAP), $8.1 billion (NRD)
• $ 1.3 billion (FCA), $ 5.9 billion

13. What to learn?
• Confusing pressure test results
• Wiring faults should have been revealed during Factory Acceptance
Testing (FAT)
• Built-in diagnostics systems
• Environmental Responsibility
• Ignorance
• Safety first

14. References
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, ThinkReliablity
• Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours, New York Times
• CSB,Safety, US Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board
• The True Story Behind the 'Deepwater Horizon' Movie, Time
• Corexit 9527,MSDS, NALCO
• Deepwater Horizon RBS 8D BOP MUX Control System Report ,
Engineering ServicesLP
• Final Report on the Investigation of the Macondo Well Blowout ,
Deepwater Horizon Study Group