BP

BP operates in all areas of oil and gas, beginning with exploration and development and including refining, marketing, transportation and distribution, power generation, and energy trading. It also owns thousands of service stations around the world. The Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill in 2010 is the most infamous of BP’s accidents, but its offshore operations have led to numerous others, including those that killed and injured workers.

About British Petroleum (BP)

BP has inland and offshore operations in many countries worldwide as a substantial international company. It operates in more than 70 countries and employs nearly 80,000 people.

BP produces an equivalent of 3.3 million barrels of oil daily and has 1.7 billion barrels of proven oil in reserve. It currently has access to 8,000 square kilometers of area for exploration.

BP’s offshore operations include exploration, drilling, and oil production from wells. The company operates offshore in various places around the world. These sites include the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, Greenland, Angola in West Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Brazil, and the Canadian Arctic.

BP History

In 1908 a group of geologists discovered oil in the desert of Iran, then Persia, which was the first significant discovery of oil in the Middle East. Investor William D’Arcy was given the right to drill for that oil and founded the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

• The company had some early ups and downs but eventually grew and helped provide the British army and navy with fuel during World War I.
• The name of the company changed to the British Petroleum Company in 1954. It continued to expand to new regions and into offshore exploration and development of oil.
• BP began exploring areas like Nigeria, Libya, the North Sea, and Alaska.
• By the 1970s, getting oil from the Middle East was impossible, and the company’s original exploitation of that region was over. It had to rely on other parts of the world.
• By the 1990s, BP had become completely privatized and underwent a series of mergers to become the modern company.

BP’s Offshore Operations

BP operates offshore facilities in several locations throughout the world: 

• In the North Sea waters, the company has 33 platforms and about three billion barrels equivalent of reserve oil.
• In the U.S., BP operates in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, a field providing the state with half its gas and oil.
• BP also operates in the Gulf of Mexico.
• These are just some of the significant offshore sites for BP. It also explores and develops oil in other locations, like Brazil and West Africa.

Major BP Accidents

BP has a reputation that is less than perfect for both environmental accidents and those that hurt or kill workers, although there is often an overlap between the two.

Deepwater Horizon

The most infamous BP accidents were the explosion and subsequent oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion on the oil platform occurred in 2010 and killed eleven workers and injured 16 more.

The worker deaths and injuries were just the beginning of the problem. The resulting well blowout caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

The well continued to gush into Gulf waters for weeks before it could be successfully capped and controlled. Investigations found five separate human errors and one mechanical error that caused the explosion and spill. BP paid a lot of money due to this massive accident.

Texas Refinery Accident

Another big accident occurred in 2005 at a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas. The accident was again an explosion, but this one caused the deaths of 15 people and injured more than 170.

Investigations found that BP was negligent in the accident and that the refinery was found to have been in bad shape. Much of the equipment needed updating, and reports before the accident occurred, found that the refinery was an unsafe place to work.

BP Accidents in Alaska

BP was also to blame for more than one incident in Alaska. In 2002 a worker was inspecting a well in Prudhoe Bay when it blew up. He was in a coma for six weeks and suffered severe burns and broken bones. He settled with BP for an amount that was not disclosed.

A pipeline spill also occurred in Alaska in 2006 and leaked 260,000 gallons of oil.

In both of these incidents, BP was found to have been negligent. In the case of the injured worker, a report from a year before the accident concluded that safety measures were cut from the facility to save money.

In the case of the spill, the failed pipeline was found to have been corroded and hadn’t been adequately cleaned in at least ten years. BP failed in all of these incidents to provide safe working environments and to prevent spills and leaks that led to environmental disasters.

Worker Rights and Maritime Law

In the above cases, when BP failed to protect its workers, those injured workers and the dependents of the deceased could get monetary compensation from the company.

For those workers who were part of the maritime industry, including offshore oil workers, maritime law protects them and provides an avenue for getting adequate compensation.

This money helps injured workers or their loved ones pay extensive medical bills and funeral expenses and includes money for rehabilitation, lost wages, emotional suffering, and pain.

Several maritime laws, such as the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Jones Act, provide ways for injured maritime workers to get the money they need to get back on their feet after accidents.

If you have been hurt on the job, your employer may pressure you to sign a deal immediately. You should never settle for anything before speaking to a maritime lawyer who can make sure you get what you deserve. These experts in maritime law are there to give you advice, represent you, and argue your case in court or with your employer.