The
Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the
BP oil spill, the
BP oil disaster, the
Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the
Macondo blowout) began on 20 April 2010 in the
Gulf of Mexico on the
BP-operated
Macondo Prospect. Following the
explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a sea-floor
oil gusher flowed for 87 days, until it was capped on 15 July 2010. Eleven people went missing and were never found and it is considered the largest accidental marine
oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, an estimated 8% to 31% larger in volume than the previously largest, the
Ixtoc I oil spill. The US Government estimated the total discharge at . After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated the well site was still leaking.