9 of the Biggest Oil Spills in History
In this post, we discuss 9 of the biggest oil spills in history in great detail. Humans have used petroleum (oil) for thousands of years in medicine and weapons of war. However, the use of this material wouldn’t surge until the Industrial Revolution, where oil became valuable as both fuel for illumination and as a lubricant. For details on other environmental disasters caused by negligence, criminal behavior, or just plain greed, read our post Ecological Disasters Through 1912–2020.
The Industrial Revolution
It would eventually become a replacement for wood, coal, animal power, and other sources of energy. Liquid petroleum had some significant advantages over other energy sources at the time: it was concentrated, and it could be transported easily from one place to another.
Accelerated Consumption of Fossil Fuels
As oil use boomed, its refined products (such as gasoline and diesel) came to be used to fuel automobiles, ships, and other vehicles. Promoting the growth of a worldwide system of wells, ships, storage terminals, and pipelines. A century later, as a result of human error, and old and damaged equipment, extracting oil from the ground and moving it to refineries and beyond has oftentimes spilled oil into the environment.
Fossil Fuel’s Environmental Impacts
The largest spills have released tens of millions of gallons of oil and resulted in decimated coastlines, polluted fisheries, biologically dead ecosystems, dead and injured wildlife, and lost revenue from industries that rely on the ocean like fishing, food & restaurants, and hospitality & tourism. The top nine most destructive oil spills are listed below.
1978
France’s Amoco Cadiz Tanker Spill
The Amoco Cadiz VLCC (very large crude carrier) owned by Amoco Transport Corporation, a subsidiary of British Petroleum (BP) ran aground on shallow rocks its rudder and hydraulic system were damaged on March 16, 1978 and spilled an estimated two million barrels of oil off the coast of Brittany, France.
About 200 miles (321 km) of French coast was polluted by the oil slick, which killed millions of invertebrates, such as mollusks and crustaceans, and an estimated 20,000 birds, and contaminated oyster beds in the region.
Legal Repercussions
The disaster occurs just one month after a meeting of the signatories of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) that aimed at expanding safety requirements for tankers to reduce the likelihood of spills and pollution.
In 1990 in response to a suit brought by the French government, businesses, and private citizens, a U.S. district court orders Amoco to pay $120 million in cleanup costs and damages to the French government and Brittany nearby towns. And an additional $35 million to Royal Dutch Shell plc (now Shell plc) for the lost oil.
In 1982 enough countries ratify the MARPOL convention and the new international rules for tankers go into force a year later, though it is unclear what effect the incident has on ratification.
1979
The Atlantic Empress Oil Spill
The collision between the Greek VLCCs Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain on July 19, 1979 during a tropical storm, created the fifth largest oil spill disaster on record and the largest ship–based oil spill disaster.
An estimated 287,000 metric tonnes of light crude oil owned by Mobil Oil (now ExxonMobil) were released into the Atlantic Ocean some 18 nautical miles (33 km) east of the island of Tobago. 26 sailors from both ships were killed or disappeared, presumed dead and 50 crew members were seriously injured or burned.
Both ships caught fire, and the fire ignited the oil slick that was spilled. The Atlantic Empress caught the worst of the collision, it was towed away from land, and it burned for two weeks before it sank. In contrast, the fire aboard the Aegean Captain was extinguished in time, and the vessel was towed to the island of Trinidad.
Because none of the oil reached the beaches, no impact studies were ever made of the damage to wildlife or the ocean floor; winds pushed most of the oil out to sea, where it dispersed. Visible environmental impacts were surface water pollution and decreased water (physico–chemical, biological) quality, as well as exposure to unknown or uncertain complex risks.
1979
The Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill
State–owned Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) drilled on the Ixtoc I on December 10, 1978. The platform was drilling exploration wells in 164 feet (about 50 meters) of water located northwest of the city Ciudad de Carmen. The oil spill continued to release crude oil into the Bay of Campeche between June 1979 and March 1980.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding how much oil was released during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, some sources rank the Ixtoc 1 accident as the second worst oil spill of all time. The spill began with an explosion aboard the Ixtoc 1 platform. The explosion was caused when the drilling mud failed to circulate, resulting in a buildup of oil and gas in the pipe.
When workers attempted to remove the drill so that material could flow back down the pipe and plug the well, a slurry of mud, oil, and natural gas rushed up the pipe and bypassed the blowout preventer, which failed. When the gases came in contact with whirring motors at the surface, they ignited.
Environmental Impacts
For nearly ten months, the well poured oil into the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico at a rate initially estimated to be 30,000 barrels per day. That was later reduced by about one–third by pumping nearly 100,000 metal balls into the well. The well was eventually capped on March 23, 1980, after having released an estimated 126 million gallons of oil.
Some of this oil washed up on the beaches from the western Yucatan Peninsula to southern Texas, which resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tourism revenue and reduced commercial fishing in the region for as many as five years afterwards.
A combined research cruise by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship Researcher and contract vessel Pierce in September 1979 collected more than 1,000 samples for biogeochemical and microbiological studies (PDF) and made detailed hydrographic surveys of the waters around the Itxoc 1 well.
1983
The Castillo de Bellver Oil Spill
The MT Castillo de Bellver oil spill began on 6 August 1983, when the Spanish tanker exploded and caught on fire approximately 50 miles (80 km) off Table Bay, South Africa. It was carrying 79.2 million gallons (1.88 million barrels) of light crude oil.
It was traveling through the Langebaan Lagoon marine life sanctuary area, a 15–mile (24 km)–long strip of coast south of Saldanha Port. An area that is both ecologically and economically sensitive, rich in flora and fauna. It is also home to a large seabird population. Half of South African lobster and fish landings are caught within this zone, which is also an important nursery area for many fish species.
The burning vessel was abandoned and broke apart after drifting offshore. A fishing trawler, Harvest Carina, rescued 32 crew members from a lifeboat. A passing container ship rescued another crew member. Three additional persons were declared missing.
The stern section of the ship capsized and sank in deep waters, 22 miles (36 km) off the coast. By mid–morning, the ship trailed a flaming oil slick 20 miles (32 km) long and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide. The bow had drifted towards an area that included the Langebaan Lagoon. The bow section was then towed away from the coast and was eventually sunk using explosives.
Environmental Impacts
A total of 46–55 million gallons (1–1.3 million barrels) of oil was released into the sea during the incident. A portion of the oil burned during the fire.
Onshore environmental impacts were considered negligible as the majority of the oil on the surface was caught in the Benguela Current and carried out to sea where it dispersed. The only visible impact was the oiling of 1,500 gannets that were on a nearby island.
1983
The Incidents at the Nowruz Oil Field
In 1983, the Nowruz Oil Field in the Persian Gulf, Iran, was involved in a number of oil pollution incidents. On February 10, 1983, a tanker collided with an Iranian oil platform. The platform developed a 45–degree tilt and had to be shut down. Wave action and corrosion apparently caused the riser to collapse into the wellhead causing a spill of approximately 63,000 gallons (1,500 barrels) per day. The well was not capped because the field was in the middle of the Iran–Iraq war zone.
This platform was attacked by Iraqi planes in March and the resulting slick caught fire. This well was capped by the Iranians on September 18, 1983. Eleven people were killed during the operation.
In March 1983, a nearby platform was attacked with rockets by Iraqi helicopters. The platform burned and spilled oil at an initial rate of approximately 5,000 barrels per day. The rate slowed to about 1,500 barrels per day until it was capped two years later, in May 1985 with the assistance of divers. Nine men died during these operations.
Approximately 31 million gallons (733,000 barrels) of oil spilled into the sea as a result of this incident. It is estimated that the rate of oil leaking into the Persian Gulf in mid–May of 1983 was between 4,000 and 10,000 barrels per day.
Estimates suggest that roughly 80 million gallons of oil were spilled as a result of these two incidents. Skimmers and other equipment were able to clean up some of the oil, but an estimated two–thirds of the total amount fell to the seafloor as tar balls after sand mixed with floating oil at the surface.
As a result of this incident, a cooperative program for large–scale trajectory modeling was developed between the NOAA and Kuwait’s Environment Protection Authority under the Ministry of Public Health.
1989
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
The Exxon Valdez oil tanker owned by the Exxon Shipping Company (XOM) spills 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, off the coast of Alaska, after marooning into a reef. The spill pollutes 1,300 miles of coastline, killing 250,000 seabirds, 3,000 sea otters, and 250 bald eagles. It destroys billions of salmon eggs striking a major blow to Alaska’s fishing industry.
In response to global concern, U.S. Congress passes new legislation to regulate the shipping industry, including the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which increases penalties for oil spills, sets requirements for vessel construction, and mandates that all tankers operating in U.S. waters be double–hulled.
In addition, a 1992 amendment to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships (MARPOL), which has over 155 signatories in 2021, requires that all newly built tankers be double–hulled.
1994
The Kolva River Spill
In May, 2021 roughly 84 million gallons (seven tonnes) of crude oil spilled into local soil and waterways, threatening the area’s ecosystems and populated areas. The spill is believed to be the result of an accident at a pipeline operated by Russian oil producer PJSC Lukoil Oil Company.
It comes nearly a year after a leak from a fuel storage facility operated by Russian mining giant Nornickel led to the worst Arctic oil spill in history. The leak came from a pipeline that connects the Oshskoye oil field in the Nenets Autonomous District to a nearby Lukoil storage facility.
Initial estimates said roughly four tonnes of crude oil contaminated 72 square miles (186 square km or 1.27 hectares) of tundra and wetlands around the pipeline, while three tonnes entered the Kolva River and moved downstream to and traveled downstream to Usinsk, a town of 45,000 people located 2,000 km northeast of Moscow.
Clean Up Efforts
While oil booms are usually used to contain oil spills on water, there was too much moving ice on the Kolva at that time of year to use that technique. Locals reportedly noticed dead fish in the river on May 10, before the accident was officially reported. Activists from the Pechora Rescue Committee NGO accused Lukoil of concealing the real time and scale of the accident.
Project director at Greenpeace Russia, Vladimir Chuprov, explained that these leaks are caused when the metal used in pipelines corrodes because it is used past its expiration date. He further added that the gradual phase out of oil as an energy source is the way to solve the problem of oil spills.
The Investigative Committee for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous District opened a criminal case into the spill.
1991
The Persian Gulf War Oil Spill
The Gulf War oil spill, (or Persian Gulf oil spill), one of the world’s largest known oil spills in history, was not an accident. On August 2, 1990, Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered the invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the apparent aim of acquiring that nation’s large oil reserves, canceling a large debt Iraq owed Kuwait, and expanding Iraqi power in the region.
In January 1991 and February 1991, Iraqi forces began dumping oil into the Persian Gulf in order to stop a U.S. coalition of British, French, Egyptians, Saudis, Syrians, and others intent on deposing the Iraqis. In a bid to deter the coalition from landing marines and other amphibious troops in northern Kuwait and southern Iraq, Iraqi forces released hundreds of millions of gallons of oil from Kuwait’s Sea Island Oil Terminal into the northern Persian Gulf, which burned for months.
Sources estimate that approximately 70,000 to 80,000 tonnes (between 380–520 million gallons) of oil were spilled each day. The slick reached a maximum size of 101 miles (160 km) by 42 miles (68 km) and was 5 inches (13 cm) thick in some areas. Figures place it several times the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Clean–up efforts were impeded by the ongoing Gulf War. Most clean–up efforts were focused on oil recovery, so that very little clean–up was done on Saudi Arabia’s beaches, mangrove forests, and marshes. The Persian Gulf still supports a diverse ecosystem, including endangered and endemic species.
Clean Up Efforts
A Wall Street Journal article reported that an estimated 375 miles (604 km) of shoreline remained covered in oil. This lack of attention given to sensitive environments drew attention to the Saudi government by environmentalist groups concerned about the spill’s lasting effects.
Research on the spill’s environmental impact has focused on the health of the ecosystem of the Persian Gulf, including coral reefs, salt marshes, mud flats, and mangrove forests and continued through 2020. In 1993, a study sponsored by UNESCO, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. found the spill did little long–term damage to the environment.
Environmental Impacts
However, in 2001, studies on Gulf sediments along with small crustaceans that live in the sediments known as ostracods, found that offshore sediments and the organisms were still affected by the 1991 spill.
In 2002, some researchers found that marshlands and mud tidal flats continued to contain large quantities of oil, over nine years later, and full recovery is likely to take decades. Also In 2002, groups of researchers found that the spill caused the death of many seabirds, including almost 30,000 grebes and cormorants, by coating the birds’ feathers.
In 2010 research found that a large amount of the oil remained after 12 years due to its abnormally high ability to penetrate Gulf sediments. In 2017, open water areas were found to have had concentrations of hydrocarbons in the sediment, but secluded bay areas had alarming levels that threatened the lives of organisms.
The Gulf War oil spill caused significant economic damage to the fishing and oil industries around the Persian Gulf. It is considered the world’s first known act of large–scale eco–terrorism.
1992
The Mingbulak (or Fergana Valley) Oil Spill
The Mingbulak oil spill (also known as the Fergana Valley oil spill) was the worst terrestrial oil spill in the history of Asia, and the largest inland spill in history. The oil spill was caused by a well–drilling blowout at well #5 on March 2, 1992 at the Mingbulak oil field in the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan.
The crude oil released from the well burned for two months. The blowout resulted in the release of 35,000–150,000 barrels (5,600–24,000 m3) per day. In total, 2,000,000 barrels (320,000 m3) were collected behind emergency dykes. The oil caught fire and burned for two months before the well pressure subsided. A total of 285,000 tonnes of oil were released.
2010
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The explosion on British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, which was drilling in underwater depths of more than one mile, kills eleven workers, injures another seventeen, and causes the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
Estimated at nearly five million barrels, about 2,100 km (1,300 miles) of American coastline from Texas to Florida were coated with oil. U.S. officials struggle to contain the spill, which lasts nearly three months, and causes an estimated $17.2 billion in damage to beaches, wildlife, fisheries, and tourism.
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama pressures BP into establishing a $20 billion fund to pay for damages and cleanup. In lawsuits that followed, BP ultimately paid $65 billion in compensation to people who relied on the gulf for their livelihoods.
It also places a six–month ban on deep water oil drilling and creates the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to study the spill. Following the commission’s recommendations, the administration imposes new regulations on drilling, though many of these are later revoked under U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s administration.
March 2023
The Willow Project in Alaska
U.S. President Joe Biden (@joebiden, Instagram) and (@JoeBiden, Twitter) approves the Willow Project on Alaska’s petroleum–rich North Slope, in a federal oil reserve roughly the size of Indiana. Supporters claim it is an economic lifeline for Indigenous communities in the region.
But environmental activists claim it is an ecological disaster waiting to happen. Environmental groups say it is counter to the Biden Administration’s climate goals. The announcement came the day after the administration said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.
The project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, about 1.5% of total U.S. oil production. The project is the largest proposed oil drilling on U.S. public land and the biggest oil field in Alaska in decades. On average, about 499,700 barrels of oil a day flow through the trans–Alaska pipeline, which is below the late–1980s peak of 2.1 million barrels.
Take Away
This last oil drilling project has actually not created any ecological disasters…yet. The world (and the U.S.) have known for quite some time (100+ years) that the drilling for, processing of, and burning of fossil fuels is toxifying all the air and water on the planet. As well as destroying entire ecosystems, harming every living organism on the planet, including humans.
We know what the issues over energy are. We also know what the solutions for cleaner, more sustainable energy sources are. COP27 took place only a few months ago, and the U.S. rejoined the Paris Agreement with the start of the Biden Administration.
So, all things considered, is it prudent to approve this most recent oil drilling project, which is problematic at best, and fraught with possible disasters at worst? There are no easy answers, of course, but there must at least be a discussion of pros and cons before (as a nation) we embark on another long–term petroleum investment. What do you think? We’d love to hear your opinion. Please feel free to comment below.
Sources:
9 of the Biggest Oil Spills in History
https://www.britannica.com/list/9-of-the-biggest-oil-spills-in-history
Written by John P. Rafferty, Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Atlantic_Empress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixtoc_I_oil_spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Bellver_oil_spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_oil_spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingbulak_oil_spill
Nowruz Oil Field; Persian Gulf, Iran
https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/6262
Ixtoc I Oil Well
https://www.whoi.edu/oil/ixtoc-I
Russian Authorities Battle to Contain New Arctic Oil Spill
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/05/14/russian-authorities-battle-to-contain-new-arctic-oil-spill-a73897
May 14, 2021
What is the Willow project in Alaska? Controversial oil drilling plan explained
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/willow-project-alaska-oil-drilling-plan-biden-approved-explained/
MARCH 13, 2023 / 3:50 PM / CBS/AP