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An explosion aboard the deep water horizon drilling rig kills 11 workers
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An estimate of as many as 40,000 barrels per day before a cap was put on the well
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Oil from the spill reaches Texas, meaning it has affected all five US Gulf Coast states.
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Storm causes the ships to evacuate and stopped the drilling for 2 weeks
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The BP spill is greater than than the 1979 Ixtoc I leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which leaked 3.3 million barrels.
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The US government says three-quarters of the oil spilled in the Gulf has been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces.
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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
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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.
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The ruptured well is finally sealed and "effectively dead", says the top US federal official overseeing the disaster, Coast Guard Adm Thad Allen.
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The spill was 200m high and 2km wide, and extended 35km from the oil spill site