The complete story of the devastating BP oil spill of 2010. The author puts forward an objective account of what happened, a documentation of the true costs, not the hyperbolic costs, and an explanation of the science and business of the spill and its remediation.PART I: HISTORY - A BRIEF HISTORY OF OIL SPILLS -Arabian Gulf -Ixtoc I -Atlantic Empress -Fergana Valley -ABT Summer -Nowruz Field Platform -Catillo de Bellver - Amoco Cadiz - MT Haven -Odyssey - Sea Star - Morris J. Berman - Irenes Serenade - Urquila - Torrey Canyon - Montara PART II: THE INDUSTRY - VARIOUS WAYS TO EXTRACT OIL - where does oil come from? - early extraction and shallow well - offshore drilling - deep sea drilling - the complication of combined oil and gas at pressure - the risks in perspective of drilling, transportation, refining, distribution, and consumption PART III: WHAT HAPPENED - THE MACONDO SPILL - history of the Macondo oil reservoir - events leading up to the fire and spill - partners in the spill - early BP response - U.S. Federal government response - the science of determining the spill rate PART IV: THE MEDIA - FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE - the first example of transparency at the ocean's floor - a spill in clear view - the role of the media - an assumption of moral responsibility - the public face of BP - 24 hour news cycle PART V: THE SCIENCE - ENGINEERING A SOLUTION - what went wrong - five contributing factors and their implications - the effectiveness of various solutions - deep sea dispersants - the new phenomenon of subsea plumes - when engineering meets politics PART VI: POLITICS - A PARALLEL POLITICAL AGENDA - a stalled U.S. energy bill - concessions to offshore drilling in return for a filibuster proof energy bill - a moratorium on drilling - finger pointing - Congress extracts a pound of flesh - time to talk tough, heads must role PART VII: BUSINESS - THE MARKET RESPONSE - loss of value of BP stock - exaggerated claims of cost and liability - promise to pay all legitiml£²