The Gulf Oil Spill: Lessons Learned

When the BP oil spill afflicted the Gulf of Mexico last year, one of the government's first reactions was to impose a moratorium on oil drilling in the region. The impact was immediate and lasting as tens of thousands of workers were idled. Only then did the public realize that fishing and tourism in the Gulf accounts for about four percent of the regional economy; energy production, on the other hand, adds up to about sixteen percent.

Relying on Industry Experience

The disaster, which ranks among the top five spills in world history, showed both the fallibility and the ingenuity of the oil industry. While the government was able to pledge all manner of assistance, and was happy to grill BP executives in Congressional hearings, they were essentially helpless to stop the oil gusher a mile below the surface of the ocean, which occurred after the Deep Horizon oil rig caught fire and sank while working the Mocando oil well.

No Silver Bullet

In the end, BP was able to cap the well by lowering a gigantic containment dome over the top of it. Of course, this took a few tries, and in the meantime millions of barrels of oil were spewing from a hole in the ocean floor. Some geologists worried about the integrity of the sea floor itself. The most pessimistic viewpoints actually expressed concern that the spill could be an "extinction event", which turned out to be a bit on the hysterical side.

Once a relief well was drilled (some 12,000 feet below the rocky sea bed), the spill pretty much ended, and the oil companies went back to business as usual. The debate over the best way to achieve American energy independence rages on, and the energy companies continue to be one of the few sectors of the economy not to have fallen on hard times. For those who have jobs in the oil industry, BP's mess was just a bump in the road.