Production and consumption of oil and petroleum products are increasing worldwide, and the threat of oil pollution is increasing. Obviously, an important part of protecting the environment is ensuring that few oil spills happen as much as possible. There are also many deterrents to oil spills including governmental fines and the high cost of cleaning up. So, introduction of new methods/new materials with lower cost for oils-spill cleaning up is very important from practical viewpoint to protect our environment from pollutants. Among the methods for oil spill cleaning up, the methods which use superhydrophobic and superoleophilic materials have recently drawn a great deal of attention from both fundamental and practical points of view. This chapter deals primarily with introduction of crude oils and petroleum products, then their long-term fate in the environment, the effects of oil spills on the environment and wildlife, and finally the classic and advanced oil spill cleaning up techniques are discussed.
