Coast Guard - Potential For Deepwater Horizon Oil Flow To Increase 10X To 50,000 Barrels/Day

[hatrack]

The US Coast Guard now fears the underwater oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of litres of oil a day, the Mobile Press-Register reported on Saturday.

Citing a confidential National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report on the unfolding spill disaster, the Alabama newspaper said two additional release points had been found in the tangled pipe. "If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked, resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought," the paper quotes the report as saying.

EDIT

In this case, it would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5000 barrels a day coming out now, the newspaper concluded.

That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or about 8 million litres a day.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/gulf-of-mexico-oil-gush-could-increase-10-times-20100501-u0gb.html

[ananda]

1. In a more accurate measure...

... that's a helluvalotta oil.

[zeemike]

2. Well what I know for sure is that leaks always get bigger

when dealing with high pressure...they never get smaller unless the source of the pressure is exhausted.

[OnlinePoker]

3. To put it in perspective, Exxon Valdez spilled 250,000 Barrels

This is going to be a disaster for the entire Gulf ecosystem. Don't worry about oxygen free "dead zones"...the entire area will be a dead zone.

[flamingdem]

4. Does anyone have faith in the engineers? nt

[GliderGuider]

5. "Faith" in what sense?

Do I think they are bending every effort towards dealing with the crisis? Yes.
Do I think they will succeed? Maybe, but only eventually and after a lot of damage has been done.
Do I think engineers are a better choice for tackling the problem than politicians? You bet.

[The Croquist]

6. This is bad news

I had assumed that the 1 mile pipe had broken on the way down and when it hit the sea floor and that the current flow was unimpeded by the pipe. Obviously I was wrong.