ABSTRACT
When crude oil or a petroleum product is to be produced or transported in the marine environment, there is always a risk of spills. To assess the nature of the risk and the likely behavior of the spilled oil, it is desirable to test the oil for those properties which will determine its environmental behavior and effects. Further, the properties should be expressed in the form of parameters in equations which are suitable for direct incorporation into oil spill models. Suitable tests for properties such as chemical composition, density, viscosity or rheology, volatility, aqueous solubility, and interfacial properties are suggested and equations suggested for these properties as a function of temperature and extent of weathering. Tests which can be used to predict the rates of environmental processes such as evaporation, water-in-oil emulsion formation, natural and chemically-induced dispersion and spreading are also reviewed and test inadequacies identified. A reasonably complete test protocol can be established now but some problems remain, especially with regard to characterization of an oil's natural dispersability.