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Problems on Transocean Ltd's drilling rig (named Deepwater Horizon and licensed to British Petroleum or BP). An explosion and fire kills 11 workers. The rig is located 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Venice, Louisiana, and is drilling in about 5,000 feet (1,525 meters) of water and 13,000 feet (4 km) under the seabed.
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A Five mile long (8 km) oil slick is seen after the Deepwater Horizon rig sinks.
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The U.S. Coast Guard approves a plan to use remote underwater vehicles to stop the leak by activating a blowout preventer, but this effort fails.
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A controlled burn is held on the giant oil slick, but the flow of leaking oil is about 5,000 barrels per day (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) -- more than first estimated.
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Louisiana declares state of emergency because of possible threat to it's natural resources.
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All drilling in the gulf is stopped until the cause of the Deepwater Horizon accident is known. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward says BP will take full responsibility for cleanup and will pay all legitimate claims.
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BP starts relief well drilling alongside the failed well, but this may take at least 10 weeks to complete. Obama visits the Gulf Coast to view cleanup operations.
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Early attempts to lower large containment dome over the leak fail due to frozen hydrocarbons slush that clogs it. A fishing ban for federal waters off the Gulf is extended. Oil is seen on the shores of shores of Louisiana's Chandeleur Islands (uninhabited barrier islands)
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At congressional hearings in Washington it is revealed that a "cascade of errors", technical, human and regulatory are to blame for the accident.
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BP succeeds in capturing some of the leaking oil and gas.
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The first heavy oil from the spill sloshes ashore in fragile Louisiana marshlands and part of the fragmented oil slick enters a powerful current that could carry it to the Florida Keys and beyond.
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A "top kill" maneuver (that involves pumping heavy fluids and other material into the well shaft is tried - but within 3 days is considered a failure. BP says the disaster has so far cost close to $1 billion.
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BP works on a to capture escaping oil using robot submarines to cut off oil leaking from a riser pipe, then lowering a containment cap over the wellhead assembly.
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Half of leaking oil is captured, but leak contiues
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Heavy seas from Hurricane Alex disrupt clean-up efforts.
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BP begin their latest attempt to seal the leak using robots to remove a leaking well so that a replacement containment system can be installed
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The flow of leaking oil is stopped by BP for the first time in 87 days, but leaks start again and additional solutions needed.
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Tropical storm Bonnie hibders cleanup efforts.
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'Static kill' successfully stops the oil leak, though more mud may still have to be pumped into the well to close it permanently.
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The US government announces that the majority of oil from the BP spill has been cleaned up
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US Coast Guard deems the well kill operations complete and successful.
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Scientists estimate that a total of 4.4m barrels of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico during the nearly three months the well leaked. Thanks to technology and nature a large majority has already been cleaned up
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White House report finds that government scientists were blocked by Obama administration from reporting the full extent of BP oil spill in the early stages
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It is released that the estimated cost of the oil spill is arround $40 billion.
