Chapter 37 - 1991 Gulf War Oil Spill

Abstract

This chapter highlights the 1991 Gulf War Oil Spill. The release of 11 million barrels of crude oil into the Arabian Gulf during the 1991 Gulf War resulted in the largest oil spill in history. Maximum oil was transported to the south along the shoreline, where bulk of floating oil got trapped behind Abu Ali Island, and north of Jubail, Saudi Arabia. During the 1992 and 1993, studies were conducted to know the impact of oil spills in Saudi Arabia. Approximately 1,163,000 barrels of oil were recovered from the water surface. One year after the oil spill, all halophytes were dead and there was no sign of living epibiota in the upper intertidal zone. The oil entered up to 40 cm in the heavily burrowed sand and mud flats. Shoreline cleanup was done in a few small areas. In 2002, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia conducted shoreline survey to determine the impacts of the 1991 oil spill as the basis for environmental damage claims. Pre-spill data on the ecological condition of Saudi Arabia were not sufficient to support pre-spill and post-spill comparisons.