Yes, that's the key. And when you are looking at "volumes" of oil and water vs the "volume" of the Gulf, this is NOTHING. The dispersant is misunderstood in what its use is. Yes it disperses the oil into tiny globules ... in fact, if you can get the mixing right, almost a pure emulsion. People are mistakenly thinking this is the end of the story, that we are trying to "hide" the oil in the water, but it is still there. Not so.
The purpose is to increase the surface area of the oil (tar ball) slick by factors of millions. When you take a sphere (or glob) of oil, about 1 foot long and 1/2 foot in diameter, then emulsify it down to emulsion sized droplets, the overall surface area is increased by a factor of millions. So now you have that much more "surface area" for the bacteria (bugs) to work on. The "bugs" can only get at the surface of the oil ... if you increase the surface by a factor of millions, then that many more "bugs" can work on it. So in this way, you "naturally" get rid of the oil. By the way, this is happening every day in the gulf, as there are natural oil leaks there...and always have been since BEFORE drilling! So the "bugs" are there, and they do their work. The key here is to make the "natural process" work better. The place to add the dispersants is right at the leak area, that would/does give the best mixing. It does "some" good if you spray it on the water, but you need the mixing for emulsification. Hope this helps.