Top 10 Biggest Oil Spills in the Ocean

1. Gulf War Oil Spill

Persian Gulf (Kuwait), 1991

10.3 million barrels

Iraqi forces opened valves and emptied tankers, mostly at Kuwait's Sea Island terminal, with the intention, in part, of thwarting a landing by U.S. Marines arriving.

2. Ixtoc I Oil Well

Gulf of Mexico (Mexico waters), 1980

3.3 million barrels

Like the Deepwater Horizon spill, this one resulted from a blowout on an exploratory well. It took nine months to plug the well.

3. Atlantic Empress

Trinidad & Tobago, 1979

2.1 million barrels

Tanker collided with another tanker, the Aegean Captain. Continued leaking while being towed. Sank in deepwater.

4. Fergana Valley

Uzbekistan, 1992

2 million barrels

The largest ever spill from an inland oilfield. Struck heavily populated industrial area.

5. Nowruz oil field

1983, Persian Gulf (Iran)

A tanker ran into an oil production platform. Spilled 1,500 barrels per day for more than a year.

6. ABT Summer tanker

1983, 700 miles off Angola

1.9 million barrels Tanker caught fire carrying crude from Iran to Rotterdam.

7. Castillo de Bellver tanker

1983, Saldanha Bay, South Africa

1.8 million barrels

Fire on tanker led to ship breaking in two off the coast of Cape Town. Winds pushed the oil slick out to sea, preventing environmental damage onshore.

8. Amoco Cadiz tanker

on 16 March 1978, Brittany, France Tanker ran ashore on the Portsall rocks off coast of France after losing rudder control during a fierce storm. Broke in two and sank with 1.6 million barrels

9. Amoco Haven tanker

In 1991, while loaded with 144,000 tones (1 million barrels) of crude oil, the ship exploded, caught fire and sank off the coast of Genoa, Italy, It flooding the Mediterranean with up to 50,000 tones of crude oil. The M/T Haven (formerly Amoco Milford Haven), broke in two and sank after burning for three days, and for the next 12 years the Mediterranean coast of Italy and France was polluted, especially around Genoa and southern France.

10. Odyssey tanker

November 11, 1988, Odyssey oil tanker broke in two and caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in stormy weather.1 million barrels of the oil was burned.