SPACEPHOTOS

The oil well fires started by the government of Iraq’s military, in the Al Burqan oil field situated to the south of Kuwait City (left of the center of the image), can be seen in this northeast-looking view. The image was obtained nearly eight weeks after the fires were started in Kuwait as part of the Iraq’s Government “scorched-earth” policy. At the time of this image, over 365 oil wells in the greater Al Burqan fields were burning, as were pools of oil around some wellheads. The thick black smoke from the burning oil wells was being blown by surface winds to the east-southeast out over the Persian Gulf towards southern Iran. Near the lower right of the image, oil-laden sands are visible. Discernible in the upper left portion of the image are some smoke plumes from the burning Al Rawdatayn and Al Sabiriyah oil fields north of Kuwait City.