
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140205
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA                                LENGTH: Short

OIL SLICK ESTIMATES LOWERED SIGNIFICANTLY

Saudi officials are dramatically reducing their estimates of the size of two giant oil slicks in the Persian Gulf, saying it now appears likely that 3 million barrels or less have been dumped from oil facilities and tankers off Kuwait.

Though authorities initially announced that the spills could reach 11 million barrels, the largest in history, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said Wednesday that the Saudi Meteorology and Environmental Protection Agency now believed the slicks ranged from 500,000 barrels to 3 million barrels. In Alaska, 254,762 barrels spilled during the 1989 Exxon-Valdez accident. - Los Angeles Times

by CNB