Gulf oil spill: Flow was underestimated

BP said Thursday that it is collecting 5,000 barrels of oil a day from one of the leaking pipes in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a statement that proves the spill is larger than the publicly released government and company estimate. The total flow had consistently been pegged at 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day.

But since oil continues to pour into the ocean despite the capture of that same amount by a tube inserted into the leaking riser pipe, those estimates are clearly too low. “Now we’re reporting up to 5,000 barrels of oil and up to 15 million cubic feet of gas a day” are being sucked from the pipe into a ship, said BP spokesman Mark Proegler. “There’s still oil leaking there. We’re not saying otherwise.”

After BP released a video of the gushing leak last week, independent scientists estimated the flow of oil could be 14 times greater than the 5,000 barrel figure. “From the beginning  we’ve been working with the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] and  the Coast Guard, and they are the source, using visual observations, of the size of the leak,” Proegler said. “We have asserted that there’s no way of accurately measuring from the end of the flow pipe. Others are taking issue with that, and that’s fine.”

Pressured by members of Congress, BP on Thursday also released a live video feed of the leak. "What you see are real-time images of a real world disaster unfolding 5,000 feet below the surface of the gulf," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) at a Capitol Hill news conference announcing "spillcam," the live feed now available on both House and Senate websites. 

--Bettina Boxall and Richard Simon
    

Comments

[Thomas Grady]

Does anyone think that due to the fact that it has taken BP this long to shut down this well,that maybe they are in all actuality trying to save it and continue collecting oil from it but not until everything is in place so there would be no public out cry as far as going back in after the well has been capped it looks like a highly productive Oil well. Anyone with half a brain should know that this should have already been capped off. Look what has been done so far no real solutions just keep collecting oil. The dome was an attempt to collect wasn't it? The straw in it now is taking in 5000 barrels a day.... Hummmmmmm

[Paul Taylor Examiner]

BP’s offshore oil platform accident is what statisticians refer to as a “black swan” event – low probability, high impact event. The Deepwater Horizon oil platform blowout in the Gulf of Mexico has three impacts: 1) the human tragedy for friends and families of the eleven killed workers, 2) the real regional, but temporary, negative ecological and commercial fisheries impacts, and, 3) the enduring damage to the image and political influence of corporate petroleum interests. Predictably, militant eco-groups agitate to stop all drilling. And, the BP rig blowout may prove to be the worst offshore pollution incident in history. But, after 50 years and over 30,000 wells providing billions of barrels of critical American energy from the Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil pollution events are indeed rare.

The Economist has recently provided some sobering data on the history and scale of the offshore oil industry. Bad as it is, the BP blowout is no justification for the Obama Administration to suspend expansion of offshore oil explorations in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Seaboard, Arctic and Pacific Coasts. Oil and gas products supply about 60% of America’s energy needs. And, they represent 7% of our gross domestic product (GDP). About one-third of Americans oil is produced from Gulf of Mexico wells.

For perspective, here are some of the facts about America’s offshore oil exploration and production spills:

· Prior to BP, there had been no significant offshore oil releases in 40 years;
· Annual spills from offshore oil pipelines declined from 2.5million gallons in 1980-84 to 12,000 gallons in 2000-04 says the Congressional Research Council;
· The National Research Council reports that offshore drilling accounts for 1% of the oil in our water coastal waters;
· Oil tankers and pipelines account for 4% of oil in coastal waters;
· General commercial shipping operations account for 33% of oil in coastal waters;
· Natural oceanographic seepage accounts for 62% of oil in our coastal waters, where natural biodegraders mitigate the impacts.

[LAME]

BP sure didn't underestimate their profits. PIGS

[allwhoponder]

Consumer of petroleum hydrocarbons have nobody but themselves to blame if anyone is to be blamed. BP merely has the balls to do what the critics and politicians are so gutless and incapable of accomplishing. And, the spill is indeed a tragedy!

[Clay Landon]

But the liberals and scientists who were claiming this all along were called reactionary and worry-warts. Now we know they were right? Next thing you'll try to tell me is that global warming is real and Iraq doesn't have WMD's.

[Michelle]

Wikipedia has an entry with the biggest oil spills on a chart. The real numbers, made by independent scientists with conservative estimates show that this spill is heading to be the biggest one ever on the globe.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spill?wasRedirected=true

Consider not gassing up and doing an energy-smart action instead on July 4th, 2010-Independence Day from British Petroleum
-typed to you on a solar-charged device :)

[BillN]

this is a disaster of epic proportions.
what type of contingency plan does the oil industry have for this type of scenario?
what would happen if something similar occured off the coast of California. we'd all be up a nasty creek.
we need implementable solutions in front of coastal commission by Monday morning.
we need alternative energy solutions on the fast track Now.