BP Oil Marketing Plan(The Gulf of Mexico oil spill) Assignment

BP Oil Marketing Plan(The Gulf of Mexico oil spill) - Assignment Example The paper also suggests a marketing plan that can be adopted by the company to help recover from the ‘marketing disaster’ as well as try to regain its position in the markets. First it is crucial to gain a complete overview of the disaster – ‘Deep Water Horizon’. Overview of Disaster One of the largest marine oil accidents was seen on 20th April 2010. The oil spill went on to flow for a total of three months in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion claimed eleven lives and injured seventeen people. The oils spill started from the sea floor oil gusher. Methane gas was found to be released from the well with high pressures and this went up into the drill column (Cleveland, 2011). The methane gas expanded on the platform and led to the explosion. The fire was intense and was not doused which led to the Deep Water Horizon to sink after 36 hours. The Deep Water was built in 2001, and was managed by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill as a whole has caused exte nsive damage to the wildlife, as well as marine habitats and also damaged hundreds of miles of sea shore as well. The spill led to the close down of several small businesses in the fishing and tourism industry since tar balls were found to be present in the nets (Cleveland, 2011). ... This provides a date wise record of government and non government estimates. Estimates of Flow Rate of Oil in Spill (Cleveland, 2011) The overall impact of the spill has been intense, and the impact will be felt for years to come. Although in the current times, the main issue being faced is the spill on the sea shore and the dead marine and wildlife, this spill will have a major irreparable damage to the Gulf Stream and can cause global thermoregulation activities as well (Zangari, 2010). The damage has been caused to the environment as well as the company. BP has been faced with a major issue here as due to lack communication. A study concluded, â€Å"Better management of decision-making processes within BP and other companies, better communication within and between BP and its contractors and effective training of key engineering and rig personnel would have prevented the Macondo incident† (Belokas, 2011). Macro Environmental Factors Considering the major impact the spill ha s had on the company and the world as a whole, it is crucial to gain a detailed understanding of the environmental factors that can impact the strategic plans of the company. Here for the macro environmental factors, a SWOT and PESTLE analysis of the company has been developed. This helps gain a clearer idea of factors impacting the company and affecting the ability of the company to regain the position in the US of A markets. SWOT Analysis of BP Strengths: BP is one of the largest oil and Petroleum Company in the world The company has used a wide range of strategies pertaining the marketing of their refined products, trading gas, and also the liquefied natural gas and British Petroleum has grown to become a common household name. Wide spread operations and increasingly