The new estimate is staggering–4.2 million gallons per day. This means that in three days Deepwater Horizon exceeded Exxon Valdez. This 100,000/bbl per day estimate that we had heard from insiders two weeks ago, but it seemed to be unreal. At the time, BP and its Unified Command Center were telling us it was 40,000/bbl per day.
This leaves me wondering what other numbers are off. What else is BP hiding from us?
One barrel holds 42 gallons of oil. Current government estimates put the spill at between 1.47 and 2.52 million gallons per day.
Read this Mobile Press Register article about the new higher estimate.