Implications for Corporate Governance Examples
The BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster
- This was the biggest-in-history 87-day 5million-barrel oil spill following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, sinking, and worker fatalities, in the Mexican Gulf in 2010.
- BP was convicted of 11 counts of manslaughter and other crimes related to the disaster, including lying to US Congress.
- Fines exceeding $4bn were continuing to increase at 2013, as were various criminal/civil damages and compensation payments exceeding $40bn.
- Corporate failures in the disaster itself and the aftermath were utterly catastrophic - for the local eco-system and economy, and for BP, especially in the US.