On April 22, Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig 130 miles (209 km) southeast of New Orleans sank into 1,500m (5,000 feet) of water, following an explosion two days earlier.
Eleven of the 126 workers who were onboard remain unaccounted for. Around 1,000 barrels (42,000 U.S. gallons) of crude have been leaking from the submersed rig each day since it sank.
This spill however, pales in comparison to large disasters, both accidental and man-made.
During the first Gulf war, the Iraqi army purposely destroyed tankers and oil terminals in Kuwait, releasing 500 million barrels of crude, in order to slow the U.S. Navy's imminent approach in the Arabian Gulf.
The environmental impacts caused by such spills vary greatly, with those close to the coast and pristine environments by far the most destructive. Hopefully the current oil slick will harden and sink to the ocean floor before it has a chance to make landfall in Louisiana over the next few days.
Learn more about the largest oil spills that have befallen the globe.
Source: The Economist
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BP seems to have stabilized for now at $49. I have since bought a chunk for the retirement portfolio and have positioned some cash to reinforce if it decides to drop further.
ReplyDeleteI have never bought so much stock as I have in the past 20 months. I have identified positions I will that I will invest in if the market continues to decline, but I am done for awhile and will focus on restocking the investment cash reserve.
"Bad news is an investor's best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America's future at a marked-down price."
ReplyDelete-Warren Buffet