Gulf of Mexico BP reached an $18.7bn settlement with the US government, the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, as well as 400 local authorities. To date BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54bn. According to the National Response Center, the oil industry has thousands of minor accidents in the Gulf of Mexico every year. On May 12, 2016, a release of oil from subsea infrastructure on Shell's "Brutus" oil rig released 2,100 barrels of oil. This leak created a visible 2 mile by 13 mile oil slick in the sea about 97 miles
Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico (United States) 1938, but the first oil discovery was not made until 1941, off of Jefferson County. Through 2007, Texas state waters have produced of oil and . In 2007, Texas state waters produced of oil and condensate and gas. The first oil test in offshore Alabama was made in Mobile Bay in 1951. The first discovery in state waters of offshore Alabama was made in 1979. By 2005 a total of 80 wells have been drilled in state water, and production in Alabama state water provided per year, half the state's gas production. The eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore