5/20: BP admits they underestimated "leak" amount

[Cetacea]

(CBS/ AP) BP conceded Thursday that more oil than it estimated is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico as heavy crude washed into Louisiana's wetlands for the first time, feeding worries and uncertainty about the massive month-long spill.

Mark Proegler, a spokesman for oil giant BP PLC, said a mile-long tube inserted into a leaking pipe over the weekend is now capturing 210,000 gallons a day - the total amount the company and the Coast Guard have estimated is gushing into the sea - but some is still escaping. He would not say how much.

Several professors who have watched video of the leak have already said they believe the amount gushing out is much higher than the official estimates.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

Proegler said the 210,000 gallons - 5,000 barrels - has always been just an estimate because there is no way of measuring how much is gushing from the seafloor...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/20/national/main6502769.shtml

I guess they realized they'd screwed up earler today when they said they were now capturing 5000/day with the siphon, which would be 100 % of their estimate...

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Every fucking thing they say is a lie. Everything they say is self-serving.

KNR

[Cetacea]

3. Wereley 3.9 million coming from TWO leaks

"...Wereley, a mechanical engineer at Purdue University in Indiana, told The Associated Press that he is sticking with his estimate that 3.9 million gallons a day is spewing from two leaks..."

[LeftyFingerPop]

4. Goddamnit. n/t

[Nordmadr]

2. So I wonder what percentage their straw is catching?

I'm guessing the estimates of 75,000 to 100,000 barrels a day are probably pretty accurate. Simply unbelievable.

[hatrack]

5. Yes, it's just IMPOSSIBLE for engineers to estimate how much oil & gas are escaping

After all, they only have the known diameter of the pipe and the known reservoir pressure and lots and lots of video of the spill as it happens.

How could anyone possibly figure out how much oil & gas are escaping?!?!?

:eyes:

[Junkdrawer]

6. Actually, I think they've accidentally discovered a way to make oil....

It's a more political expedient explanation. Kills two birds with one stone (no pun intended).

1.) Minimizes the leak

2.) Solves the Energy Crisis

[piratefish08]

7. leak. it's a mutherfuckin' OIL VOLCANO.

[Cetacea]

8. Indeed.

[Cetacea]

9. New article: BP: It might be a "little more than that"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10133413.stm:mad: