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 Content:
   
Cheryl Anderson

 Pagemasters:
    OMM Web Team

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Spills - Statistics and Summaries 1996-2008

The MMS tracks spill incidents 1 barrel or greater in size of petroleum and other toxic substances resulting from Federal OCS oil and gas activities. MMS has historically produced counts and summaries for spills greater than or equal to 50 barrels (2,100 gallons). The tables below provide counts for spills of 50 barrels or greater, by year and by OCS Region. The counts are linked to summaries describing the circumstances surrounding each spill of 50 barrels or greater for that Region that year.

Effective July 17, 2006, MMS revised the regulations for incident reporting. This regulation did not change the reporting requirement for Spills. Currently all spills of 1 barrel or more must be reported.

OCS Spills >50 Barrels by Category:
 
blue bullet.  2008-2011
  blue bullet.  2004-2007
 
blue bullet.  2000-2003
 
blue bullet.  1996-1999

OCS Spill Incidents 2008-2011

Spill > 50 Barrels*

2008

2009

2010

2011

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

 Crude/Condensate2

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 Refined Petroleum, e.g., Diesel, Mineral Oil

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 Synthetic-Based Fluids**

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

 Chemical, e.g., Zinc Bromide, Glycol

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Spill >Barrels (Totals)

5

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Combined Total for the Year

5

0

0

0

 
YTD
= Year to date

 
1 Number of spill events with total spillage of 50 bbl or more. Column does not add because spills include multi-product spills
    where no individual product was 50 bbl or more, and spills which involved the loss of 50 bbl or more of two or three individual
    products.

 
2 Some crude/condensate spills are seepage (including observations less than one bbl) totaling 50 bbl or greater in a
   
calendar quarter from structures damaged by 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
 
 
* In the case of drilling muds, only the  base fluids are counted as pollution. Spills where the whole mud volume was 50 barrels
    or greater but the base oil/fluid was less than 50 barrels are annotated at the end of the narratives (two in 2004, one in  2005,
    and four in 2006).
 
**In deepwater drilling, synthetic-based muds (SBM’s) are preferred over petroleum oil-based muds (OBM’s) due to the SBM’s
    superior performance properties. The synthetic base fluid used in SBM’s are less toxic to the marine environment and have
    the potential to biodegrade. Only the synthetic base fluids are counted as pollution. SBM's were first introduced  in the Gulf of
    Mexico around 1999. Petroleum oil-based muds (OBM's) were the predominant muds prior to this time (generally with diesel or
    mineral oil as the base), and are still used outside of deepwater.

SOURCE: TIMS Database as of 15-June-2008
 

 

OCS Spill Incidents 2004-2007

Spill > 50 Barrels*

2004

2005

2006

2007

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

 Crude/Condensate4

11

0

32

0

7

0

1

0

 Refined Petroleum, e.g., Diesel, Mineral Oil

4

0

7

0

0

0

0

0

 Synthetic-Based Fluids**

5

0

5

0

5

0

2

0

 Chemical, e.g., Zinc Bromide, Glycol

4

0

6

0

2

0

1

0

Spill >Barrels (Totals)

22

0

49

0

14

0

4

0

Combined Total for the Year

221,2

493

14

4

 
YTD
= Year to date

 
1 Number of spill events with total spillage of 50 bbl or more. Column does not add because spills include multi-product spills
    where no individual product was 50 bbl or more, and spills which involved the loss of 50 bbl or more of two or three individual
    products.

 
2 The 2004 increase is due to Hurricane Ivan which accounts for 15 of the 22 spills. Ivan is the first hurricane for which
    unrecovered petroleum and chemicals on destroyed, heavily damaged, and/or missing structures were reported in a
    comprehensive manner.
 
3 The 2005 increase is due to Hurricane Katrina which accounts for 25, and Hurricane Rita which accounts for 18, of the
    49 spills.
 
4 Some crude/condensate spills are seepage (including observations less than one bbl) totaling 50 bbl or greater in a
    calendar quarter from structures damaged by 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
 
* In the case of drilling muds, only the  base fluids are counted as pollution. Spills where the whole mud volume was 50 barrels
    or greater but the base oil/fluid was less than 50 barrels are annotated at the end of the narratives (two in 2004, one in  2005,
    and four in 2006).
 
**In deepwater drilling, synthetic-based muds (SBM’s) are preferred over petroleum oil-based muds (OBM’s) due to the SBM’s
    superior performance properties. The synthetic base fluid used in SBM’s are less toxic to the marine environment and have
    the potential to biodegrade. Only the synthetic base fluids are counted as pollution. SBM's were first introduced  in the Gulf of
    Mexico around 1999. Petroleum oil-based muds (OBM's) were the predominant muds prior to this time (generally with diesel or
    mineral oil as the base), and are still used outside of deepwater.

SOURCE: TIMS Database as of 15-June-2008
 

Spill Analysis CY 2007 (Under Construction)

OCS Spill Incidents 2000-2003

Spill > 50 Barrels*

2000

2001

2002

2003

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

 Crude/Condensate

3

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

 Refined Petroleum, e.g., Diesel, Mineral Oil

0

0

0

0

2

0

3

0

 Synthetic-Based Fluids**

5

0

5

0

7

 0

7

0

 Chemical, e.g., Zinc Bromide, Glycol

0

0

3

0

2

0

2

0

Spill >Barrels (Totals)

7

0

9

0

12

0

12

0

Combined Total for the Year

7

9

12

12

  In the case of drilling muds, only the  base fluids are counted as pollution. Spills where the whole mud volume was 50 barrels
    or greater but the base oil/fluid was less than 50 barrels are annotated at the end of the narratives (two in 2000, one in  2001,
    and one in 2002).
 
** In deepwater drilling, synthetic-based muds (SBM’s) are preferred over petroleum oil-based muds (OBM’s) due to the SBM’s
     superior performance properties. The synthetic base fluid used in SBM’s are less toxic to the marine environment and have
     the potential to biodegrade. Only the synthetic base fluids are counted as pollution. SBM's were first introduced  in the Gulf of
     Mexico around 1999. Petroleum oil-based muds (OBM's) were the predominant muds prior to this time (generally with diesel or
     mineral oil as the base), and are still used outside of deepwater.
***One spill had both 200 bbl crude and 573.6 bbl synthetic in GOM 2000.

SOURCE: TIMS Database as of 15-June-2008
 

 

OCS Spill Incidents 1996-1999

Spill > 50 Barrels*

1996

1997

1998

1999

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

GOM

PAC

 Crude/Condensate

0

1

1

0

3

0

2

0

 Refined Petroleum, e.g., Diesel, Mineral Oil

2

0

0

0

1

0

1

0

 Synthetic-Based Fluids**

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

 Chemical, e.g., Zinc Bromide, Glycol

1

0

2

0

5

0

1

0

Spill >Barrels (Totals)

3

1

 3

0

9

0

5

0

Combined Total for the Year

4

3

91

5

 1 Number of spill events with total spillage of 50 bbl or more. Column does not add because spills include multi-product spills
    where no individual product was 50 bbl or more, and spills which involved the loss of 50 bbl or more of two or three individual
    products.
 
 
* In the case of drilling muds, only the  base fluids are counted as pollution. Spills where the whole mud volume was 50 barrels
   or greater but the base oil/fluid was less than 50 barrels are annotated at the end of the narratives (none between 1996-1999)
 
** In deepwater drilling, synthetic-based muds (SBM’s) are preferred over petroleum oil-based muds (OBM’s) due to the SBM’s
    superior performance properties. The synthetic base fluid used in SBM’s are less toxic to the marine environment and have
    the potential to biodegrade. Only the synthetic base fluids are counted as pollution. SBM's were first introduced  in the Gulf of
    Mexico around 1999. Petroleum oil-based muds (OBM's) were the predominant muds prior to this time (generally with diesel or
    mineral oil as the base), and are still used outside of deepwater.

SOURCE: TIMS Database as of 15-June-2008

Spills ≥ 50 Barrels (2,100 gal) in State Waters

MMS tracks spills which occur on Federal leases in OCS waters, the submerged lands, subsoil, and seabed, lying between the seaward extent of the States' jurisdiction and the seaward extent of Federal jurisdiction (see spills above). The MMS does not maintain comprehensive data on spills which have occurred in the State's jurisdiction. However, in recent years, MMS occasionally has collected information on State pollution incidents.


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Last Updated: 08/13/08, 08:00 AM

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