BP GLOBAL MEMORANDUM
DATE: December 5, 2010
TO: BP Global: Gulf of Mexico Response
FROM: Anonymous College Interns
SUBJECT: SOLVING THE OIL SPILL PROBLEM
On April 20th, 2010, the blowout of one of BP’s drilling rigs in Mexico Gulf led to the
most serious oil spill disaster in the area. 11 workers were killed in the explosion and 14
people were injured. Thousands of square miles of the ocean were polluted (Robertson
& Krauss, 2010). This incident causes several tough problems including environmental,
political, financial and legal problems from both the public and BP’s perspectives. This
report aims to highlight methods for solving the problems associated with the oil spill.
After a thorough research on the incident, we discovered four aspects of BP oil spill: the
aspects of environment, economy, politics and policy, and BP’s internal crisis. This
report gives some recommendations on how to solve each problem we identified. Some
of the recommendations include taking precautions to ensure workers’ safe and health,
providing with aim and in time medical treatment, setting up a long-term tracking system
to investigate the pollutant levels, and compensating affected parties.
All persons involved in putting together this report are dedicated employees and are
enthusiastic about sharing these new ideas. We would like to conduct a presentation of
this report to you and other senior management next Monday. Please send an e-mail to
us at buad501-csuf@googlegroups.com to request additional information or to schedule
the time for the presentation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Purposes of the Report
The purpose of this report is to analyze BP oil spill problems and possible solutions.
This report also provides a background of the BP oil spill and recommendations for
reducing the risks of offshore oil spill.
Introduction and Background
The BP oil spill, occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, was recorded as the
worst disaster in our offshore oil. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not the only
disaster. Looking into the history of oil spill reveals that BP has brought about other oil
spill accidents caused many deaths and injuries of workers and serious damage to
environment.
Issues and Problems Analysis
The most important problem with deepwater oil spill is water pollution that has
significant impacts on offshore ecology and human health. In addition, due to the huge
aftermath of oil spill, the economic compensation is not easy to deal with. Another
problem is that the U.S. government has not clear stance in energy policy, confusing
stakeholders including oil and gas companies and the public.
We suggested three basic considerations in this paper for seeking solutions to offshore
oil spill problems: resolving the environmental aftermath of oil spill such as clean-up
protecting worker’s safety, and compensating affected parties. Along with the
considerations, we analyzed three possible solutions: BP alone takes the responsibility
for the problems, Government alone take the responsibilities, and both cooperate with
each other.
Recommendations for Solving the Oil Spill Problems
Our conclusion is that BP and government should take the responsibilities for solving oi
spill problems and cooperate with each other.
1. Take precautions to ensure workers safe and health.
2. Provide medical treatment in the long time.
3. Set up long-term tracking system to investigate the pollutant levels.
4. Compensate affected parties.
5. Implement immediately new strict standards
