Attention! an oil rig has exploded!

April 30, 2010 3:59 PM

Attention! an oil rig has exploded!
This page uses the latest estimate of the spill rate (5000 barrels/day ) to tally the total amount spilled by the leaking oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
posted by kuatto (4 comments total)

It'd be helpful to put those numbers in some kind of context.

Right now, at 13.9 million gallons, we're 3 millions gallons beyond the Exxon-Valdez spill. The current volume of leaked oil could fill 25 olympic size swimming pools.
posted by sambosambo at 2:12 AM on May 4, 2010

Funny, our estimates are a bit lower. at 2.43 gallons per second, our number comes out to be around 3mil. Significantly lower than the Valdez: thebigoilspill.com we also have a nsfw version here: f-en oil spill
posted by edman at 1:57 PM on May 5, 2010

edman, the range commonly used is between 5000-25000. I picked the worst-case flow rate. I think it is fair to say that 5000 barrels a day is optimistic :/
posted by kuatto at 9:52 PM on May 11, 2010

I guess no one really knows how fast the oil is spilling out.
posted by kuatto at 9:55 PM on May 11, 2010