I seem to recall hearing that a Mexican rig on the south side of the Gulf blew out some years ago. Of course, that crisis was on a smaller scale than the seven years (estimated by BP?) for this well to subside on its own. However, the ocean pretty much solved the Mexican leak on its own, just as it does on other ocean seepages. Further, BP is doing all it can to minimize its losses and recover as much oil as possible. Shouldn’t our efforts simply concentrate on containment of the present slick rather than “plug the #@%& hole” in the immortal words of the man “in charge since Day One?”
I invite your attention to post #251 above, which is particularly helpful and also recalls the same Mexican blowout you do.
Ixtoc was a much larger reservoir than "Macondo". It was one of the principal fields in the fabulous Cantarell complex that was the core of Mexican production and exports for 30 years. There were some eight or ten of these big fields, which however are in much shallower water than "Macondo".
Yes, it was the Ixtoc I platform, in only about 200ft of water. 1979 to 1980 - it took about 10 months to get it under control.