In May 2003, a BP oil rig in 6,000 feet of water had a failure similar to the Deepwater Horizon. The pipe from the sea floor to the surface broke in half. In the 2003 case, the blow-out preventer (BOP) worked, shutting off the well. There were no injuries.

BP and NOAA knew in 2003 that “Loss of well containment would result in more oil spilled in a week than occurred during the whole of the T/V Exxon’s Valdez oil spill.” It’s printed right there at the bottom of page 1. This is the official report.

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