The document summarizes the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused by BP. It describes how the oil rig explosion led to the largest marine oil spill in history, spilling millions of barrels of oil over 87 days. It examines how BP violated safety regulations and ignored warning signs, causing immense environmental and economic impacts. Stakeholders like the environment, residents, and BP itself suffered major consequences. The conclusion states that prioritizing safety should be a top concern for all companies as part of their social responsibility.

1. by-
Navitha Pereira
Femina Dsouza
Adarsh K V
Ravi Shakti
Ethics & Sustainability
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
BRITISH PETROLEUM

2. Environmental Business Ethics
Environmental ethics is formally defined as the
study of human interaction with nature. In a
business sense, environmental ethics is
concerned with a company's responsibility to
protect the environment in which it operates.
Public awareness of damage caused to the
environment by human action has driven a demand
for governmental regulations directly affecting the
ability of businesses to conduct their operations.
Corporate response to governmental regulation is a
primary area of concern in environmental business
ethics.

3. The Cause for Damage
New
Opportunities
Sustainability
Human Choices
Business Realities
02
04 01
03
Causes

4. Animal Ethics
Ethical questions about our treatment of
animals arise in several different industries,
such as agriculture, medicine, and cosmetics.
This section addresses these questions
because they form part of the larger picture
of the way society treats all living things—
including nonhuman animals as well as the
environment.
All states in the United States have some form of laws to
protect animals; some violations carry criminal penalties
and some carry civil penalties.
Consumer groups and the media have also applied
pressure to the business community to consider animal
ethics seriously, and businesses have discovered money
to be made in the booming business of pets. Of course,
as always, we should acknowledge that culture and
geography influence our understanding of ethical issues
at a personal and a business level.

5. Ethical Responsibilities in the Employer-Employee Relationship
• The employer-employee relationship
should not be looked at simply in
economic terms. It is a significant
human relationship of mutual
dependency that has great impact on
the people involved.
• A person’s job, like a person’s
business, are highly valued
possessions that pervasively affect
the lives of the employees and their
families.
• With stakeholders everywhere, the
relationship is laden with moral
responsibilities.

6. Ethical Responsibilities in the Employer-Employee Relationship
• It is not a question only of fair pay and
good working conditions, there should
be a real and enduring concern for the
well-being of employees.
• While the welfare of the company and
other co-workers must remain the
dominant consideration an ethical
employer is willing to make decisions
and implement policies in a manner that
demonstrates a genuine concern, even
when there are associated costs which
impact profitability. Companies should
be loyal to workers as well as
shareholders/owners/themselves.
Employers have a moral obligation to look out for the
welfare of employees.

7. Ethical Responsibilities in the Employer-Employee Relationship
• Employees also have moral obligations,
and they go beyond giving a full day’s
work for a full day’s pay.
• Loyalty goes both ways. Employees have
moral duties to the organization, co-
workers, and customers.
• If an employer were secretly to look for a
replacement for an employee by
conducting interviews behind the
employee’s back, most employees would
consider that an act of betrayal.
Employees have obligations as well.

8. British Petroleum
About the Company
• Founded in 1909.
• British multinational oil and gas company
headquartered in London, England.
• One of the world's seven oil and gas
"supermajors”.
• Sixth-largest energy company by market
capitalization.
• World's 12th-largest revenue turnover.
• Vertically integrated company operating in all
areas of the oil and gas industry, including
exploration and production, refining, distribution
and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation
and trading.

9. Human Rights & Corporate Crimes
• BP is the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan, working in close collaboration with
a dictator renowned for intimidating and detaining those who criticize his regime,
where there are over 100 political prisoners. They turn a blind eye to the widespread
human rights violations taking place under the Aliyev regime.
• In Egypt, BP is one of the largest foreign investors in the country and works closely
with Egypt’s dictators and repressive rulers, in order to secure new drilling deals
and boost its profits. Disregard local opposition to its infrastructure plans.
• Mexico is in a serious human rights crisis characterized by an extreme situation of
violence and insecurity. BP works in ‘close collaboration’ with the Mexican
government to pursue deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
• To extract gas in West Papua, BP works with the Indonesian government which
continues to occupy West Papua and deny Indigenous Papuans the right to self-
determination. West Papuans face widespread violence and repression, with the
Indonesian government accused by some of genocide. Foreign media and human
rights groups are banned from operating in West Papua.
BP’s Friends: The regimes that violate rights

10. Human Rights & Corporate Crimes
• In Colombia, BP made large payments to the Ministry of Defense, the army and the
police in order to protect oil facilities. Multiple allegations have been made in the
years since about the extent of BP’s involvement in human rights violations.
• BP works in partnership with the state-owned oil company in Algeria, a company
tarnished by a corruption scandal. Over the years, oil industry revenues have enabled
the repressive operations of the military and police. Demonstrations remain banned
in the capital city of Algiers.
• While human rights defenders and journalists face repression in Angola, BP and its
partners have made questionable payments to Sonangol – the national oil company
headed by the Angolan President’s daughter – for a research centre that has never
been built.
BP’s Partners: The support that fuels oppression

11. Sea Gem Offshore Oil
Rig Disaster
1965
Texas City Refinery Explosion
2005
Prudhoe Bay Oil Spill
2006
A History of Violations and Accidents

12. A History of Violations and Accidents
Texas City Refinery
Toxic Substance Release
2007
Caspian Sea Gas Leak
2008
Texas City Refinery
Chemical Leak
2010

13. Deepwater Horizon Explosion
and Oil Spill
2010
A History of Violations and Accidents

14. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
• Explosion in BP operated Deep water horizon.
• Explosion caused fire on the deck.
• After 36 hours, it sank leaving the well
unprotected.
• It caused largest accidental marine oil spill of
history.
Largest Accidental Marine Oil Spill

15. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
210mn
Gallons of Crude Oil
11
Killed
5600m
Deep Well
16
Injured
87 Days
20 April – 15 July 2010
1600m
Deep Water

16. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Violated federal regulations at that time :
• Only one cement barrier.
• Ignorance of negative tests, limitations of control machines.
• No or little training about the rare dangerous case.
• Failure to observe and respond to critical indicators.
• Inadequate well control response.
• Insufficient emergency bridge response.
• No precaution for employees or state regulator.
• Lack of compliance to safety standards or accepted industry
practice.
• Failure to take timely and aggressive well-control actions.
• Failure to notify federal regulators of changes in drilling
plans.
What went wrong?

17. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Deepwater Horizon Rig
operator
Accused for failure of
BOP and incorrect
evaluation of negative
pressure test results.
Parties Accused
Cementing Contractor
Accused for weaknesses in
cement design and testing,
quality assurance and risk
assessment. Nitrogen based
cement used was blamed
Principal Developer
Macondo Prospect
Accused for Cost Savings,
poor safety operations, well
design and decisions
regarding testing
procedures

18. Stakeholders
that can affect or be affected
by the organization's actions,
objectives and policies.
01
03
05
Environment
Employees
BP CompanyInvestors
Residents
Government
Impact on Stakeholders
02
04
06

19. Environment
• Reduced marine oxygen levels.
• Oil was found in many animals.
• Mutated fish.
• Dead dolphins, birds, turtles and fish.
• Death of a Gulf coral community .
• Tar balls found along the coast, coastal
islands and marshes.
• Death of tree and marsh grass.
• Oil fell to the ocean floor - remained in the
food chain for the long term.
Impact on the Environment

20. Employees
• 11 employees dead.
• 108 workers affected by the toxic from
oil and dispersant (to separate oil into
droplets) in the clean-up effort.
Impact on the Employees

21. Residents
• Physical health symptoms among the children who
lived in less than 10 miles from the coastline.
• Commercial and recreational fishing affected.
• Fishermen got much smaller amount of fish.
• Seafood from the Gulf is not trusted by consumers
though samples passed the test of contamination.
Impact on the Residents
• Many of the Gulf fisheries have collapsed.
• Many people canceled their trip due to the spills.
• Much lower revenue despite lower hotel rates, free service,
changed cancellation policy from the hotels.
• The real estate prices and a number of transactions in the Gulf
of Mexico area decreased significantly.
• Many people lost jobs and wages after the spill.

22. BP Company
• The spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants
to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal payments cost a
lot to the company.
• Badly damaged image .
• BP's stock fell by 52% in 50 days on the New York Stock
Exchange.
• 10 – 40% drop on sales.
Impact on BP Company

23. Investors
• Investors saw their holdings in BP shrink to $27.02, a nearly 54% loss of
value in 2010 (New York Post)
Impact on the Investors

24. Government
• 3 years to investigate and then rule the case Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
• Ban of offshore drilling in state waters.
• Law amendment.
Impact on the Government

25. Conclusion
• BP can address issues of ethics and social reasonability by maintaining safety.
• Safety is key social responsibility.
• It will reduce environmental impact and threats to profitability.
• BP lost billions.
• Implementing simple strategies in safety, the disaster would not have happened.
• BP actions and inactions resulted from negligence and, profit first and responsibility
second.
• Safety should be a number one concern for all enterprises as part of their social
reasonability to society at large.

26. References
• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/02/bp-will-pay-largest-
environmental-fine-in-us-history-for-gulf-oil-spill
• https://pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/ethics-in-crisis-
management/lesson-1-prominent-ethical-issues-in-crisis-situations/case-study-
tbd/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP#Violations_and_accidents
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/9680589
/A-history-of-BPs-US-disasters.html
• https://sites.psu.edu/psy533wheeler/2016/10/01/cutting-corners-a-bp-case-
study/
• https://cultureunstained.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/bad-company-bp-
human-rights-and-corporate-crimes-culture-unstained-june-20171.pdf
• https://www.thinkreliability.com/case_studies/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/
• https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-
world/national/article24589216.html

27. Thank You