Ixtoc I oil spill On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout resulting in one of largest oil spills in history.

Ixtoc I
Location	Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico Campeche, Mexico
Coordinates	19.408333°N 92.325°WCoordinates: 19.408333°N 92.325°W
Date	3 June 1979 – 23 March 1980
Cause
Cause	Wellhead blowout
Operator	Pemex
Spill characteristics
Volume	3 million barrels (130,000,000 US gallons; 480,000 cubic meters)[1]
Area	2,800 km2 (1,100 sq mi)
Shoreline impacted	261 km (162 mi)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixtoc_I_oil_spill

Ixtoc I oil spill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ixtoc I
Location	Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico Campeche, Mexico
Coordinates	19.408333°N 92.325°WCoordinates: 19.408333°N 92.325°W
Date	3 June 1979 – 23 March 1980
Cause
Cause	Wellhead blowout
Operator	Pemex
Spill characteristics
Volume	3 million barrels (130,000,000 US gallons; 480,000 cubic meters)[1]
Area	2,800 km2 (1,100 sq mi)
Shoreline impacted	261 km (162 mi)

Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco 135-F in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters 50 m (160 ft) deep.^[2] On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout resulting in one of largest oil spills in history.^[3]

Contents   [hide]  1 Accident 2 Volume and extent of spill 3 Containment 4 Aftermath 5 Long-term effects 6 See also 7 References 8 External links