Countries facing a major pollution emergency may require external resources to ugment national response capacity for large, complex or significant oil spill incidents. In such cases, the Requesting Country may wish to issue a request for international assistance. This can be done bilaterally, multilaterally, or possibly through a regional mechanism, where these exist.

Correspondingly, major oil spills may trigger spontaneous offers of assistance from governments and international organizations, usually in the form of equipment, technical specialists, vessels and other resources.

Regional and international organizations may also assist in facilitating and coordinating assistance in support of national level efforts.