Largest accidental marine oil spill

On 20 April 2010 an explosion onboard the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico caused an environmental disaster whose impacts are still being realised. The oil spill from a gusher on the sea floor continued until 15 July when the well was capped. In the meantime around 4.9 million barrels, or 779 million litres, of crude oil had entered the ocean.