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It feels like the BP oil spill was just yesterday, it was on an enormous scale wasn't it.

It was the largest marine oil spill in history, and it happened a year ago today on 20 April 2010.

How did it start?

There was an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig eventually sank two days later.

Yes but explosions don't just happen, what caused it?

There was a swell of natural gas that burst through the recently fitted concrete core which sealed the well. And as the gas travelled up the riser to the rig surface, it burst into flames.

Now don't go all technical on me. What's a riser?

Oh sorry. It's a big pipe that joins the subsea blowout preventer with the floating surface rig. It basically stops mud from spilling out onto the seafloor. Ok?

Moving on... so it was BP that operated the rig right?

Well it was leased by them, but it was actually run by Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling company.

What emergency procedures were put in place?

Well when the riser burst, the mud used to work against the massive pressure building escaped, and so the oil started to spill into the gulf.

How much escaped?

That's a tricky one. BP reckoned more than 1,000 barrels per day, whereas the North American government's estimate was 60,000.

That's not even close. Anyway, when was the leak capped?

By 12 July a permanent seal was in place, and 800,000 barrels had been secured.

Finally a bit of good news!

Not if you knew that scientists appointed by the government to estimate the oil already spilled, reckoned it was as much as 4.9 million barrels. Also, it wasn't until 19 September that the well was completely secured.

Who landed the clean up job?

Well apart from the obvious two, BP and Transocean, the National Response Team, the US coast guard agency and various other organisations.

Lots of workers must have lost their jobs.

More than 8,000 did as Obama temporarily suspended all offshore drilling. And trades that counted on tourism were left high and dry. BP paid $20 billion in compensation to those affected by the spill.

And a year on?

The damage is less than was predicted. Fisheries are doing better than expected, as is marine wildlife. However, more than 1,000 square miles of water above the explosion site are still off-limits for now.

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