Fate of Spilled Oil in Marine Waters: Where Does It Go? What Does It Do? How Do Dispersants Affect It? This is the first of three short su mmary publications commissioned for preparation by API for oil spill respons e decision - makers to provide concise easy - to - use information on understand ing the fate of spilled oil and dispersants, their use, effectiveness, and effects. When making decisions regarding dispersant use, or any other oil spill response countermeasure, it is important to have a clear understanding of the overall fate of the oil entering the environment. With this publicat ion you will receiv e a complete yet concise review of oil chemistry and oil weathering. Also provided is information on how to interpret disper sant information more effectively and how dispersants alter or affect the we athering processes of oil