BP state. The "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill was a major industrial accident on the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 people and injured 16 others, leaked about of oil with plus or minus 10% uncertainty, which makes it the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, and cost to the company more than $65 billion of cleanup costs, charges and penalties. On 20 April 2010, the semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rig "Deepwater Horizon" located in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico exploded after a blowout. After burning for two days, the rig sank. The
Oil spill governance in the United States Oil spill governance in the United States Oil spill governance in the United States is governed by federal law. The governance framework for oil spills in the United States prior to the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 lacked proper consolidation and proved to be inadequate in preventing and responding to oil spillages. A timeline produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) highlights some key events in oil drilling governance and regulatory system that ultimately govern oil spills in the United States. Although the OPA provides a framework for oil spillage governance recent events resulting in the BP deep water