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Situation Update

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED ON THE MOST CURRENT DATA PROVIDED TO NOAA. 

Threat to the Arabian Gulf from pooled oil flowing from damaged oil fields.  Oil
from the damaged Ahmadi, Magwa, and Burgan oil fields is accumulating into oil
pools and flowing in streams from the well-head areas.  Observations on 25 March
indicated that these oil flows were so large that they blocked the old airport
road in four locations south of the Kuwait International Airport.   Additional
observations around Gathering Center 20 in the Ahmadi field on 7 April showed
that pooled oil from 12 burning wells was .5 meters above the roads surface.  It
is conservatively estimated that the surface oil is accumulating at the rate of
100,000 bbls/day for every million bbls/day of oil lost from the damaged oil
fields.  This estimate of 10% surface oil assumes that 80% of the released
product is burning, and half of the remaining product is evaporating.  Any
estimate of the total oil field losses results in a very high accumulation of
surface oil that could flow directly, or be carried by storm runoff, into the
Arabian Gulf off Kuwait.  

A  north to south ridge between the area of the Ahmadi and Magwa Oil Fields and
the Arabian Gulf forms a natural barrier to the oil flows. However, possible
routes for oil streams to enter the Gulf would be north of this ridge, past the
airport and through the population centers of Kuwait, possibly through sewers
and drainage areas.  Oil from the Burgan Oil Field may flow south of the ridge,
entering the Gulf south of Mina Abdullah.  Although there may not be an
immediate threat of surface oil moving through these areas, the consequences of
this occurrence requires further investigation.  

Opportunities for international assistance
  •  The location and rate of change of the accumulating oil pools and streams  
     needs to be documented using normal aerial photography techniques.  Remote 
     sensing techniques could be used to augment normal aerial reconnaissance.  
     Corrective action could be taken if the rate of change indicates that the 
     surface oil is threatening populated areas or the Gulf.
  •  Crusting of the oil surface by blown sand may obscure the oil pools with 
     time.  These crusted oil pools could be safety hazards for future oil 
     field and/or military activities.  Aerial mapping of these surface 
     accumulations should be initiated before a crust forms.
  •  A properly engineered dike system should be constructed across oil flows 
     to ensure containment of surface oil.  This design should take into 
     account varying oil flow rates and potentially heavy rainfall conditions.