Chemical Composition of Macondo and Other Crude Oils and Compositional Alterations During Oil Spills

Crude oils are some of the most complex and diverse organic mixtures found in nature. They contain thousands of different compounds belonging to several compound classes, with the main ones being hydrocarbons and their heteroatom (N, S, and O)-containing analogs, called non-hydrocarbons. In general, all crude oils contain the same types of chemical structures, but these compounds can be in highly variable proportions in crude oils drawn from different reservoir conditions and locations. Both the types of compounds and their respective quantities change rapidly once the crude oil is spilled into the environment, making the circumstances associated with every spill unique. In general, smaller and lower molecular weight oil compounds are more susceptible to processes such as evaporation, dissolution, and biodegradation, while the heavier, more hydrophobic compounds tend to adhere to living organisms or particulates and persist. The presence of certain compounds, such as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), also determines the acute and chronic toxicity of the spilled oil. Natural processes can degrade virtually all compounds in crude oils, with aerobic oxidation proceeding much faster than anaerobic degradation, although not all crude oil components are degraded with the same speed. The environmental fate and effects of crude oil degraded by biodegradation and photooxidation are yet to be fully determined. Due to the submarine and offshore setting of the Macondo well blowout, components of the spilled oil were distributed throughout the marine environment-water column, sediments, surface waters, and the coast. The light and nonviscous nature of Macondo crude oil favored its removal through natural degradation, evaporation, dissolution, and dispersal processes. In spite of the unprecedented quantities of oil that spilled, the final fate and effects of the oil, the more recalcitrant fractions of Macondo oil, and the oil weathering products have not been totally elucidated. Responders with knowledge of the physical properties of the Macondo oil executed their preplanned response efforts and kept a majority of the oil from reaching the more sensitive coastal areas.