The Macondo Prospect

The Macondo Prospect is an offshore oil and gas prospect located in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, found in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana’s coast. The field was the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion that led to the infamous BP oil spill that captivated the nation’s attention for much of 2010.

The explosion and subsequent oil spill didn’t only leave 11 dead and destroy a rig that cost over $550 million to build. Thousands lost wages, business opportunities and in some cases, their homes or their health. If you have been a victim of the BP oil spill disaster at the Macondo Prospect, the attorneys at the Arguello Law Firm can help. We work tirelessly for those who have been made victims by this heinous environmental disaster.

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Naming the Prospect

The Macondo oil field is located in the Mississippi Canyon, an undersea canyon located in the Mississippi Submarine Valley area of the Gulf of Mexico, and also goes by ‘MC252’, an abbreviation for Mississippi Canyon Block 252. While this provides a location-specific name for the area, offshore prospects usually receive a code name while the area is still being explored.

Code names provide secrecy during pre-sale and later offers an easy, familiar name for the frequently similar sounding names given by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and other agencies. In some cases, names used for prospects follow a theme during a particular year, such as cartoon characters (e.g., Bullwinkle), beverages (e.g., Cognac), or heavenly bodies (e.g., Mars). The names usually have no significance to the prospect’s location.

Macondo was a unique selection. Rather than being named for a theme, the Macondo Prospect was dubbed through a BP employee contest that was sponsored by the United Way. Macondo was the fictitious setting in Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Macondo Background Information

BP holds 90% of interest in the Macondo field after acquiring Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s 25% stake in 2011. The other 10% belongs to MOEX Offshore 2007. The area, just 40 miles offshore and 130 from New Orleans, is estimated to have held 50 million barrels of producible oil reserves.

MC252 was surveyed and studied in 1998 by KC Offshore, and later in 2003 by Fugro Geoservices, who then collected high-resolution seismic data in both 2D and 3D. The rights to drill were purchased by BP in March 2008 during an MMS lease sale.

BP America began mapping the Macondo Prospect in 2008 – 2009, and secured drilling approval from the MMS in March 2009. An exploration well was to be drilled later that year. Drilling began in October but efforts were hampered by Hurricane Ida, setting back the drill project until February 2010.

The Deepwater Horizon Explosion

April 20, 2010 was a fateful day for 11 oil workers and thousands of species of wildlife. When a blowout on the Deepwater Horizon caused an explosion and a fire that burned for 36 hours before the rig sank into the Gulf’s waters, 5,000 feet deep.

The following five months were filled with failed efforts to plug the oil gushing from the Macondo Prospect, until September 19, when a cement plug was used to seal the Macondo well.

Contact Our Macondo Well Explosion Attorneys

The explosion at the Macondo well and the subsequent spillage of nearly 5 million barrels of oil over 68,000 square miles (an area the size of Oklahoma) caused environmental devastation and damage to the economy throughout the Gulf region. If you suffered personal injury, property damage, or lost wages or business opportunities, you may be eligible to pursue compensation.

The legal team at the Arguello Law Firm offers the support and legal guidance to help you pursue justice. Our main focus is on restoring the Gulf and the families and businesses that suffered by providing quality representation. We are passionate about holding BP, Transocean and Halliburton responsible for the negligence that led to such widespread damages.

• We proudly serve individuals and families throughout the South, with our main office in Houston, TX, and accept clients from the following areas:
• Galveston, TX
• Gulfport, MS
• Pensacola, FL
• Mobile, AL
• Birmingham, AL
• …and communities throughout the Gulf Coast

Call us today at 888-CLAIM-68 (888-252-4668) to discuss how our attorneys can help you or your business to pursue the most appropriate course of legal action.

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