Simulation of hypothetical oil spill from platforms of Khark oil field in the Persian Gulf using MIKE21 Spill Model

The Persian Gulf has extensive oil and gas resources and oil transport activities in the world. Because of this, it is exposed to high potential of oil spill. A progressive increase in traffics of the vessels in the Persian Gulf led to pay more attention to prepare practical contingency plans. This paper presents the results analyses of particular hypothetical oil spill scenario in Khark offshore oilfield which is one of the oldest discovered oil fields in Persian Gulf. Simulation of oil spill was carried out using MIKE21 model. After completion of simulation, it is safe to say that wind will play a vital role in advection and spreading of the oil slick in the sea. Tidal currents in the Persian Gulf have a Reciprocating motion which causes oil slick does not go far away. So, currents have negligible effect on advection and spreading of oil. The vast majority of spilled oil was evaporated in the first few days following a spill. The oil will pollute the marine environment by dispersing it in the water column and sedimentation on the sea floor. At last, the results of MIKE21 model lend support to the fact that they are in good agreement with field observation and it would be a golden key to prepare a practical contingency planning to combat against destructive effects of oil pollution on marine environment.