Historical overview of oil spills from all sources (1960-1998)

Abstract

This poster session gives an overview of oil spill statistics on oil spills of at least 10,000 gallons (34 tonnes) that have occurred worldwide over the last twenty years. Included are: the annual amount of oil spilled from different source types as well as in total, and the number and amount of oil spilled by size range. The data indicate that in any one year, the total amount of oil spilled depends largely on the incidence of catastrophic spills. While the frequency of smaller spills under 100,000 gallons (340 tonnes) greatly exceeds those of spills of over 1 million gallons (3,400 tonnes), the total volume of these smaller spills represents only a fraction of one catastrophic spill. While tanker spills have often gotten more media coverage, the amount of oil spilled from these vessels is often less than that spilled from pipelines, storage tanks, and other facilities.