Combating Oil Pollution In The Kuwait Action Plan Region - United Nations Environment Programme Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 44

This paper estimates that, during 1979, a total of about 144,000 metric tonnes of oil polluted the Kuwait Action Plan (KAP) Region and that, during the 10 years from 1980 to 1989, more than 1.5 million metric tonnes will pollute the Region. These totals include estimates for oil pollution from the following sources: natural seeps; offshore exploration and production; transportation losses, including terminal operations and both accidental and operational discharges; coastal refineries; atmospheric fall-out; coastal municipal wastes and coastal non-refinery industrial wastes; urban run-off; and river run-off. Among these sources, transportation losses contributed more than 58 per cent of the total amount in 1979, and offshore exploration and production contributed about 22 oer cent. According to these estimates, oil pollution in the KAP Region represented 3.1 per cent of the total oil pollution in the world, thereby contributing 47 times the average estimated amount for a marine environment of similar surface area.