Gulf Spill: All the Oily Facts That Are Fit to Print

Gulf Spill: All the Oily Facts That Are Fit to Print
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On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers and causing the largest oil spill in American history. Here's a look at the figures surrounding BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas production in the U.S., and how Alaska fits into the picture.

Barrels of oil spilling each day into the Gulf of Mexico, based on government estimates: 12,000 to 19,000

Barrels BP had previously estimated spilling each day: 5,000

Gallons in a barrel: 42

Total barrels of oil in Macondo, the reservoir BP was exploring when the rig exploded: 100,000,000

Total length of boom deployed in the Gulf of Mexico to keep oil off the shore, in feet: 3,000,000

Money BP says it's spent on spill cleanup: $930,000,000

Success rate BP chief executive Tony Hayward gave the "top kill" attempt: 60 to 70 percent

Number of claims BP has received from people and businesses claiming financial damage from the spill: 26,000

Number it has paid: 11,650

Number of workers that died when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded: 11

Width of underwater oil plume headed for a Gulf canyon off the coast of Alabama, in miles: 6

Length of underwater plume, in miles: 22

Percentage by which BP's stock has dropped since April 20: 31

Barrels of oil and gas Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. oil company, has in reserves: 23,000,000,000

Barrels the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the largest oil company in the world, claims to have in reserve: 264,000,000,000

Barrels of oil burned in Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War: 5,000,000 to 6,000,0000

Percentage of the nation's technically recoverable oil and gas reserves found in Alaska: 30

Number of times Royal Dutch Shell has had Arctic drilling efforts thwarted with less than 6 weeks to go: 2

Amount it has spent preparing to hunt for oil off of Alaska's shores this summer: $3.5 billion

Number of oil-rich bowhead whales in existence in the Arctic before commercial whalers went after them at the turn of the century: 50,000

Number in existence by 1910: 3,000

Year they were listed as an endangered species: 1973

Number that roam Alaska's Arctic waters today: 10,000

Number that may be killed in Alaska Native subsistence hunts each year: 67

Year U.S. listed polar bears as a threatened species: 2008

Number of polar bears worldwide: 20,000 to 25,000

Number in Alaska: about 3,500

Barrels Exxon and government say spilled when the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef in 1989: 260,000

Amount of oil recovered during the Exxon Valdez cleanup: 8 to 10 percent

Number of double vodkas Captain Joseph Hazelwood reportedly drank the night of the spill: 5

Number of sea otters killed by the Exxon Valdez spill: 2,800

Number of orcas: 22

Number of seabirds: 100,000 to 250,000

Estimated number of years it will take the Alaska shoreline to recover from the Exxon Valdez spill: 30

Approximate number of barrels spilled in 2006 North Slope spill for which prosecutors charged BP with a federal crime: 5,000

Approximate number of barrels spilled along the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline into a containment area after the power failed at a pump station near Fairbanks last week: 5,000

Number of days pipeline was shut down while oil was cleaned up: 4

Percentage BP ownership of Alyeska Pipeline Services Co., which owns and operates the trans-Alaska pipeline and Valdez oil tanker terminal: 47

Percentage of U.S. domestic oil production that flows through the trans-Alaska pipeline: 10

Number of barrels of oil the world consumes in a day: 85,000,000

Barrels of crude oil the U.S. produces daily: 4,950,000

Barrels of crude oil the U.S. imports daily: 9,783,000

Amount Alaska collected in revenue in February 2010 from oil and gas royalties: $210,000,000

Percentage of the State of Alaska's budget generated by oil and gas production: 87

Amount Alaskans pay in income tax: $0

Current value of the Alaska Permanent Fund, created from oil revenues to benefit all Alaskans and future generations: $34,592,700,00.

Largest dividend to date, issued in 2008: $2,069

Contact Alaska Dispatch reporters Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com and Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.

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