Kuwait; March, 1991. Pumps remove crude oil from areas contaminated during the 1991 Gulf War oil spill along the coastal areas of Kuwait. On January 23, 1991, Iraqi forces, upon orders from Saddam Husein, opened valves at an offshore terminal in Kuwait and dumped oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf. The apparent strategic goal was to foil a potential landing by U.S. Marines during the invasion of Kuwait. The Gulf War oil spill is regarded as the worst oil spill in history, resulting from actions taken during the Gulf War in 1991. It caused considerable damage to wildlife in the Persian Gulf especially in areas surrounding Kuwait and Iraq. Estimates on the volume spilled range from 42 to 462 million gallons; the slick reached a maximum size of 100 by 40 miles and was 4 inches thick. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the size of the spill, figures place it 5 to 27 times the size (in gallons spilled) of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and more than twice the size of the 1979 Ixtoc I blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico.