<Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Deepwater Horizon oil spill </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> The oil slick as seen from space by NASA's Terra satellite on 24 May 2010 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Location </Th> <Td> Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi River Delta, United States </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Coordinates </Th> <Td> 28 ° 44 ′ 17.30" N 88 ° 21 ′ 57.40" W ﻿ / ﻿ 28.7381389 ° N 88.3659444 ° W ﻿ / 28.7381389; - 88.3659444 Coordinates: 28 ° 44 ′ 17.30" N 88 ° 21 ′ 57.40" W ﻿ / ﻿ 28.7381389 ° N 88.3659444 ° W ﻿ / 28.7381389; - 88.3659444 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Td> 20 April--19 September 2010 (4 months, 4 weeks and 2 days) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Cause </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Cause </Th> <Td> Wellhead blowout </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Casualties </Th> <Td> 11 killed 17 injured </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Operator </Th> <Td> Transocean under contract for BP </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Spill characteristics </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Volume </Th> <Td> 4.9 million barrels (210,000,000 U.S. gallons; 780,000 cubic meters) ± 10% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Area </Th> <Td> 2,500 to 68,000 sq mi (6,500 to 176,100 km) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Deepwater Horizon oil spill </Th> </Tr>

What caused the oil spill in the gulf of mexico to happen