Oil spill burning. Clouds of smoke and fire from a controlled burn of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill followed a blowout that caused an explosion on the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, which then sank off the coast of Louisiana. The oil spill, originating from the blowout 1,500 metres below sea level, is releasing 100s of barrels of oil into the sea each day. Photographed off the shore of Louisiana, USA, on 6th May 2010.