Gulf of Mexico oil spill flaring. Gas from the damaged Deepwater Horizon wellhead on the seabed in the Gulf of Mexico being burned at the surface by the drillship Discoverer Enterprise in a process known as flaring. This oil spill was caused by an explosion and fire that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April 2010. Over the next three months, some 4.9 million barrels of oil welled up from the seabed into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil well was capped on 15 July 2010. The spill took place close to the coast of Louisiana, USA, where it caused extensive damage to wildlife and local fishing industries. Photographed on 16 May 2010.