Spill / Tanker | Location | Date | *Tons of crude oil | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf War oil spill | Persian Gulf | January 21, 1991 | 1,360,000–1,500,000 (9,968,800-10,995,000 barrels) | [22][23] |
| Ixtoc I oil wells | Gulf of Mexico | June 3, 1979–March 23, 1980 | 454,000–480,000 (3,328,000–3,518,000 barrels) | [24] |
| Atlantic Empress / Aegean Captain | Trinidad and Tobago | July 19, 1979 | 287,000 (2,104,000 barrels) | [25][26] |
| Fergana Valley | Uzbekistan | March 2, 1992 | 285,000 (2,089,000 barrels) | [23] |
| Nowruz oil field | Persian Gulf | February 1983 | 260,000 (1,906,000 barrels) | [27] |
| ABT Summer | 700 nautical miles (1,300 km) off Angola | 1991 | 260,000 (1,906,000 barrels) | [25] |
| Castillo de Bellver | Saldanha Bay, South Africa | August 6, 1983 | 252,000 (1,847,000 barrels) | [25] |
| Amoco Cadiz | Brittany, France | March 16, 1978 | 223,000 (1,635,000 barrels) | [23][25] |
| Amoco Haven tanker disaster | Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy | 1991 | 144,000 (1,056,000 barrels) | [25] |
| Odyssey | 700 nautical miles (1,300 km) off Nova Scotia, Canada | 1988 | 132,000 (968,000 barrels) | [25] |
| Sea Star | Gulf of Oman | December 19, 1972 | 115,000 (843,000 barrels) | [23][25] |
| Torrey Canyon | Scilly Isles, UK | March 18, 1967 | 80,000–119,000 (586,000–872,000 barrels) | [23][25] |
| Irenes Serenade | Navarino Bay, Greece | 1980 | 100,000 (733,000 barrels) | [25] |
| Urquiola | A Coruña, Spain | May 12, 1976 | 100,000 (733,000 barrels) | [25] |
a One tonne of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons or 7.33 barrels and 1 oil barrel is equal to 42 US gallons approx.
The BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill flow rate has not been reliably established. Based on estimates of experts,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] it has reached at least 55,660 tonnes of oil leaked by May 24, 2010 but the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico may be 20 times the size of BP's earlier claims of 5000 barrels per day (2.4 million gallons spilled as of May 24, 2010), according to an exclusive analysis conducted for NPR.[37]
----------Deepwater Horizon oil spill:
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also called the BP Oil Spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill or the Macondo blowout,[3][4][5][6] is a massive ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, now considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history.[7] The spill stems from a sea floor oil gusher that started with an oil well blowout on April 20, 2010. The blowout caused a catastrophic explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform that was situated about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the Louisiana coast. The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others; another 98 people survived without serious physical injury.[8]
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10 Largest Oil Spills (The Valdez Doesn't Make the List)
The Exxon Valdez, the tanker responsible for the worst oil spill in American history, has come back into the news this week, as the Supreme Court finally decides the price that Exxon will pay for ruining the fishing industry in Alaska. But it will likely surprise you to know that the Valdez spill was actually only the 34th largest oil spill in history. These ten oil spills, all massively larger than the Exxon Valdez, were all smaller new stories, either because the ships were offshore, or dropped their toxic loads in less developed parts of the world. The Valdez spilled 10 million gallons off the coast of Alaska, the smallest spill in the top ten was four times larger.
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