ABSTRACT
Oil spills in water continue to pose a risk to the coastal environment. Such spills impact fishery, wild life, coastal vegetation, water supplies, recreational facilities, and floating equipment. Oil transport and oil storage near water bodies are major sources for surface and near surface spills. Oil drilling and underwater oil pipelines are the source for oil spills that originate well below the water surface. Modern technology makes it commercially viable to drill and produce from 1500 m deep or even deeper in water. Well head blowouts, pipeline bursts, and damages to facilities due to extreme weather are common sources of leaks. In underwater discharges it is common to have gases mixed with oil in their release. The presence of gases in the oil mix changes the transport and fate of oil. The presence of gas either alone or in the oil as a mix further complicates predicting the environmental risks because of a number of physico-chemical processes it undergoes during its travel from the deep water to the surface. The focus of this chapter is only on oil releases from the water surface and near surface.
