Initially, the project was owned by three companies including, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, which sold its 25% stake of the project to BP making BP the main shareholder (Deepwater Horizon Study Group.

The genesis of exploring this project is traced back to 1998 when KC Offshore conducted a hazard survey in Macondo to establish its viability. Later on, in 2003, Fugro Geoservices collected seismic data on the region, which revealed its potential for oil and gas. This prompted BP to buy the mineral right to explore oil in the project by biding with the Minerals Management Services (MMS) in 2008. BP America got permission to proceed with the mapping of the block, which later on received approval from the (MMS) to undertake the Macondo project in 2009 (Read 52).

The drilling work for the project was conducted by Deepwater Horizon Company after the initially proposed plan to award it to the Transocean Marianas rig was changed. However, a tragic accident occurred on 20 April 2010, when a fire explosion occurred on Deep Horizon leaving ten workers dead. Read reveals that two days after the explosion the rig also sank into the water at a depth estimated at about 1,500 meters (52). Currently is reported to lay on the seafloor, about 400 meters northwest of the well. It is also reported that the rig was about 52 miles off the southeast of the port of Venice, Louisiana according to reading (52).

The rig used was a semi-submersible built by a South Korean company, Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd, and owned by Transocean. The construction work officially began in 1998 and ended in 2001. The Deep[water Horizon use is said to measure 396ft long and 256ft wide as is capable of operating under water at a depth of 8,000ft. It is also reported that the Deepwater Horizon is capable of expanding up to 10,000ft underwater, with a drilling capacity of up to 30,000ft (Schneier 57).

The drilling work for the project began on February 20 and halted just two months later following an explosion that occurred on the Deepwater Horizon.