Crude oil comes from ancient plants and animals and is found beneath the ocean floor. After it is drilled and pumped out, it is transported to refineries, where it is turned into fuels like gasoline and products such as plastics, asphalt, soaps, and pharmaceuticals.

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What is Crude Oil?

Oil drilling in the ocean involves using specialized platforms (oil rigs) to drill into the seabed.

​Thousands of oil spills occur in U.S. waters each year. Most of these spills are small. Large oil spills are major, dangerous disasters. These tend to happen when pipelines break, big oil tanker ships sink, or drilling operations go wrong. Consequences to ecosystems and economies can be felt for decades following a large oil spill.

Oil Spills

Juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle oiled in the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010.

How do oil spills harm or kill ocean life? 

Fouling or oiling: Fouling or oiling occurs when oil physically harms a plant or animal. Oil can coat a bird’s wings and leave it unable to fly or strip away the insulating properties of a sea otter's fur putting it at risk of hypothermia. The degree of oiling often impacts the animal’s chances of survival.

Oil toxicity: Oil consists of many different toxic compounds. These toxic compounds can cause severe health problems like heart damage, stunted growth, immune system effects, and even death.

Crude oil is made up of hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons are long chains of only carbon and hydrogen atoms. Here are 3 compounds found in crude oil.

​​Methane

​​Propane

​​Cyclobutane

References:

1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2025, February 25). Oil Spills. Www.noaa.gov; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/oil-spills

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