Gulf of Mexico Incident Spreadsheet: Blowouts and other Well-related Spills in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, 1996-2010

Data describing incidents of spill and loss of well control in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from 1996 to 2010 have been accessed from the BSEE public records and organized in an Excel spreadsheet. Incidents reported over the past 15 years were reviewed and organized in a spreadsheet. A total of 90 non-pipeline incidents were identified as including enough description to be useful. Most of these incidents were blowouts and/or spills greater than 50 barrels. To the extent possible, the descriptions include the operation in progress at the time of the release of hydrocarbons, the cause of the release, the flow path taken from the formation to the point in the well or production system where the fluids were released, the release point, the types and volumes of fluids released, the barriers that were ultimately used to reestablish control, and other factors considered useful in describing these inidents and determining what kinds of responses should be expected to be most effective. Only 15 of the incidents occurred in water depths greater than 1000 ft. The spreadsheet is organized to allow sorting be any of the factors described, to focused on particular factors, or to be used with a built-in coding to establish correlations between particular factors.