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Study: Well most likely spewing more than 1M gallons of oil a day
Loading ...The Deepwater Horizon well has most likely spewed 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day, more than previously estimated, according to one of several teams of scientists appointed by the federal government to study the flow from the dark geyser at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
If the team’s estimate is correct, and the flow has been more or less consistent, approximately 1.3 million to 1.5 million barrels, or 53.6 million to 64.3 million gallons, of oil have emerged from the well since the April 20 blowout. That is roughly five to six times the amount spilled in Alaskan waters in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez.
These new numbers hardly close the books on the size of the spill. The “plume team,” which has examined video of the leaking well, is just one of four teams studying the flow rate. Another team, which analyzed satellite images and tried to correct for oil skimmed, burned and dispersed, has also refined its earlier estimate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day. The team has now concluded that the flow is about 12,600 to 21,500 barrels a day.
Continue Reading at WashingtonPost.com.
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