Oil spills after tanker and pipeline accidents pose a serious threat to the environment, lead to the loss of energy carriers and severely pollute seawater. Mechanical extraction by sorption mechanism is an effective means of oil spill liquidation from the surface of reservoirs. The English 2000–2017 scientific and technical literature devoted to the design of sorbents based on polymeric materials for the collection (absorption) of spilled oil and oil products from the surface of reservoirs with the possibility of subsequent recovery of the useful product was searched and analyzed.