The BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 Research Paper

The BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 - Research Paper Example In particular, this paper includes discussion and evaluation of different aspects of BP Oil Spill to identify ethical issues related to it and lessons that can come from it. Alongside these factors, there are also the numerous risks that each business faces, whether it is through competition, emerging firms, varying economic factors or the fluctuating exchange rates of currencies that account for a major part of the company’s business. To understand risk, one has to acknowledge what it means in true business. In the world of commerce, it mean that there is an existing probability that a particular step or decision leads to an undesirable impact, such as loss of valuable resources, or failure to accomplish the desired goal (Great Britain, pp.1). It exists in all businesses, and dealing with them is the main part of an entrepreneur’s job, even if the degree of risk involved can vary from business to business. This variation is the main reason why ethics are not receiving the same amount of importance as before in several businesses, who seem accustomed to following unethical procedures in their businesses. During the earlier part of the last century, businesses faced higher risks due to the manual nature of the work they did. This does not exist currently, however, where risk can be measured quite accurately due to the technologies present. British Petroleum (BP) is one of the highest-ranking companies in the world, which started as a local oil company. Nowadays, BP is famous worldwide for its success as an oil and gas company providing its service globally. A few years ago, it executed one of its large projects names ‘Deepwater Horizon’, on the Gulf of Mexico (Miller, et. al., pp. 15-97). This led to the oil spill and explosion, which happened on April 20, 2010, a disaster, which the world remembers as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Miller, et. al., pp. 15-97). Some major victims of this spill were marine creatures who had their h omes and habitats destroyed by the spilled oil in the sea. The cause of this spill was the failure to keep the gas pressure in the well under control, which further led to the blowout preventer malfunctioning, resulting in the disastrous oil spill. After a conflagration, the rig was swallowed by the sea, leading to the oil seeping out, and continuing for three straight months before the company was able to seal the well and stop it. Several millions of barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf, killing several human beings, marine animals and destroying a famed tourist location and the homes of thousands of marine animals (Miller, et. al., pp. 15-97). Observations In particular, BP Oil Spill resulted in a number of unethical outcomes that affected the human society environmentally, economically, as well as socially. One significant adverse impact that the spill had was ecological damage killing an unimaginable amount of marine life, including animals, plants, and corals, and it was mainl y â€Å"whales, dolphins, turtles, beach mice, birds, fish, corals, and many others† (King, pp. 3-10) who became victim to the spill. The cause of this was when the operators lost control of the gas pressure in the well. This led to a massive leaking of gas into the water, which decreased the oxygen level in