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Explosion
An explosion aboard the deep water horizon drilling rig kills 11 workers -
Scale of bp spill
An estimate of as many as 40,000 barrels per day before a cap was put on the well -
Gulf oil leak tar balls hit Texas
Oil from the spill reaches Texas, meaning it has affected all five US Gulf Coast states. -
Storm forces ships off spill site
Storm causes the ships to evacuate and stopped the drilling for 2 weeks -
BP gears up to halt "worst spill"
The BP spill is greater than than the 1979 Ixtoc I leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which leaked 3.3 million barrels. -
Majority of BP spill 'dealt with'
The US government says three-quarters of the oil spilled in the Gulf has been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces. -
US to require review of new deep-water oil drilling
An estimated 4.9 million barrels spilled from the damaged well in the 87 days from the beginning of the disaster until the leak was finally capped -
BP blowout preventer "removed"
The blowout preventer that failed to stop the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig is removed from the stricken Gulf of Mexico oil well by BP. The 300-ton device will be examined as part of the inquiry into the leak of 206m gallons of oil into the Gulf. -
Sealed
The ruptured well is finally sealed and "effectively dead", says the top US federal official overseeing the disaster, Coast Guard Adm Thad Allen. -
Oil leak leaves undersea residue
The spill was 200m high and 2km wide, and extended 35km from the oil spill site
