It just keeps getting worse and worse. 
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Gulf Oil Spill May be Five Times Estimated Size
Updated: Friday, 30 Apr 2010, 12:44 PM PDT
Published : Friday, 30 Apr 2010, 12:22 PM PDTBy Ian Talley
(Dow Jones Newswires ) - The Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be leaking at 25,000 barrels a day, five times the U.S. government's current estimates according to industry experts, Dow Jones Newswires reported Friday.
Basing their calculations on government data and standard industry measurement tools, the experts say the Gulf spill may already rival the historic 1969 Santa Barbara, Calif., and 1989 Exxon Valdez disasters.
Ian MacDonald, Professor of Oceanography at Florida State University who specializes in tracking ocean oil seeps from satellite imagery, said there may already be more than 9 million gallons of oil floating in the Gulf now, based on his estimate of a 25,000 barrel-a-day leak rate. That's compared to 12 million gallons spilled in the Valdez accident.
Interior Department officials said it may take 90 days to cap the leaking well. If the 25,000 barrels a day is accurate and it leaks for 90 days, that's 2.25 million barrels or 94.5 million gallons.
MacDonald and his colleagues at the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science Department have worked jointly with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the past on oil spill tracking, and have shared their estimates with NOAA scientists. He said the NOAA scientists didn't dispute the calculations.
A NOAA spokeswoman said the government estimate of 5,000 barrels a day leaking from the BP deep sea well was based on collaborative assessments produced by BP, NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard. NOAA scientists weren't immediately available to comment.
The 5,000-barrel figure was first announced late Wednesday and marked a five-fold increase from the previous estimate. News of the higher estimate ratcheted up the pressure on officials to take more-aggressive steps to contain the spill and heightened concerns about potential environmental damage and disruption to the Gulf Coast economy.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a White House press conference Thursday, "It's quite likely we will continue to pay close attention to what is on the surface ... and there may be estimates -- revised estimates down the road."
John Amos, a geologist who has worked as a consultant with companies such as BP, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell on tracking and measuring oil spills from satellite data, says NOAA raised its estimates to 5,000 barrels a day after he and his colleagues published calculations that showed the original figures were far too low based on the NOAA data.
Amos says the 5,000 barrels a day is the "extremely low end" of their estimates. He says, based on NOAA maps, a more realistic figure is 20,000 barrels a day.
John Curry, a spokesman for BP working from their Gulf coast central command operations, said the 5,000 barrel a day was a "guestimate." "There's a range of uncertainty, and it's very difficult to accurately gauge how much there is," he said.
The Deepwater Horizon offshore platform exploded on April 20. The blast is presumed to have killed 11 workers.
Source: Dow Jones Newswires
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Gulf Oil Spill May be Five Times Estimated Size
Updated: Friday, 30 Apr 2010, 12:44 PM PDT
Published : Friday, 30 Apr 2010, 12:22 PM PDTBy Ian Talley
(Dow Jones Newswires ) - The Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be leaking at 25,000 barrels a day, five times the U.S. government's current estimates according to industry experts, Dow Jones Newswires reported Friday.
Basing their calculations on government data and standard industry measurement tools, the experts say the Gulf spill may already rival the historic 1969 Santa Barbara, Calif., and 1989 Exxon Valdez disasters.
Ian MacDonald, Professor of Oceanography at Florida State University who specializes in tracking ocean oil seeps from satellite imagery, said there may already be more than 9 million gallons of oil floating in the Gulf now, based on his estimate of a 25,000 barrel-a-day leak rate. That's compared to 12 million gallons spilled in the Valdez accident.
Interior Department officials said it may take 90 days to cap the leaking well. If the 25,000 barrels a day is accurate and it leaks for 90 days, that's 2.25 million barrels or 94.5 million gallons.
MacDonald and his colleagues at the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science Department have worked jointly with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the past on oil spill tracking, and have shared their estimates with NOAA scientists. He said the NOAA scientists didn't dispute the calculations.
A NOAA spokeswoman said the government estimate of 5,000 barrels a day leaking from the BP deep sea well was based on collaborative assessments produced by BP, NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard. NOAA scientists weren't immediately available to comment.
The 5,000-barrel figure was first announced late Wednesday and marked a five-fold increase from the previous estimate. News of the higher estimate ratcheted up the pressure on officials to take more-aggressive steps to contain the spill and heightened concerns about potential environmental damage and disruption to the Gulf Coast economy.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a White House press conference Thursday, "It's quite likely we will continue to pay close attention to what is on the surface ... and there may be estimates -- revised estimates down the road."
John Amos, a geologist who has worked as a consultant with companies such as BP, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell on tracking and measuring oil spills from satellite data, says NOAA raised its estimates to 5,000 barrels a day after he and his colleagues published calculations that showed the original figures were far too low based on the NOAA data.
Amos says the 5,000 barrels a day is the "extremely low end" of their estimates. He says, based on NOAA maps, a more realistic figure is 20,000 barrels a day.
John Curry, a spokesman for BP working from their Gulf coast central command operations, said the 5,000 barrel a day was a "guestimate." "There's a range of uncertainty, and it's very difficult to accurately gauge how much there is," he said.
The Deepwater Horizon offshore platform exploded on April 20. The blast is presumed to have killed 11 workers.
Source: Dow Jones Newswires
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