Cost & Effects of The BP Oil Spill

Cost & Effects of the BP Oil Spill

Since the April 20 Explosion, 210,000 gallons of oil (795,000 liters) have been gushing out into the ocean every day. On April 20, one million gallons had leaked into the ocean. By April 27, the total oil spilled was two million gallons. By May 4, the total leaked oil was three million gallons. For comparison, the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound in 1989.

The Cost of the BP Oil Spill

A barrel of oil costs $86 currently. Before the spill, oil cost $83 per barrel. The BP oil rig is leaking 5,000 barrels a day. That’s $430,000 a day that is floating away in the ocean (and killing birds in the meantime). Eleven people are already presumed dead.

There are 42 gallons of oil in a barrel. Of those gallons, 23 gallons become gasoline. The rest of the oil becomes jet fuel, lubricant, diesel and so on. The United States uses 20 million barrels of oil a day.

More Costs to BP From the Oil Spill

Since the spill, BP’s stock has lost a market value of $25 billion. To put $25 billion into perspective- it takes $15 billion to provide clean water to half a billion people in the world who need it. Google makes $20 billion per year. The $25 billion that the spill has cost BP has made the world’s water dirtier.

It’s estimated that it will cost $300 million to plug the spill. That amount does not include cleanup. That would buy enough gasoline to drive a gas-guzzling SUV around the circumference of the Earth 60,237 times.