Discussion: Oil Spills

On April 20, 2010, there was an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Review a history of those events from the following sources:

• Deepwater Horizon Accident and Response (http://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/deepwater-horizon-accident.html)

• Gulf Oil Spill (http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill)

• 100 Days of the BP Spill: A Timeline (http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2006455,00.html)

respond to the following questions:

• Did BP respond in a manner that was appropriate to stockholders or did they take a stakeholder view?

• In making your determination, what were the primary factors that you considered?

• Provide specific examples, where applicable.

• If you were the CEO of BP at that time, what would you have done in the hours, days, and weeks after the explosion?