Question for BP and the MMS - What is the Real Flow From the Blowout?

After viewing the subsea videos of BP's blowout well last night, I am renewing my question to BP and the MMS... What is the real flow from the well?
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

After viewing the subsea videos of BP's blowout well last night, I am renewing my question to BP and the MMS... What is the real flow from the well? Both the company and the agency continue dismissing the question, saying that their response is the same no matter what the volume. That's all well and good, of course, but it's important for the public to know what the facts are, not just the talking point that these entities want to continue repeating. In order for us to deal with this spill, as well as future spills, the magnitude of this volume must be refined to a more realistic estimate.

BP now reports 2,000 barrels per day recovery to the surface through their riser insertion tool (RIT); however, with the worsening leak in the kink in the riser above the blowout preventer (BOP) and the obvious blow-by that they are not capturing on the open end, it looks like they are only capturing a small bit of the actual volume polluting the Gulf. Scientists continue to estimate a flow much higher that the official line, and it's time for the flow number to be reviewed by objective third parties and officially revised.

BP has said they can now read pressures in the BOP, but, to my knowledge haven't disclosed them. With those pressures and the size of the BOP bore, along with an estimated gas to oil ratio, they can certainly calculate the amount of oil flowing from the well, and you can bet they already have. The MMS, and the press, allowing them to stonewall this answer is unconscionable.

To BP: What are the pressures inside the BOP, and what is the actual flow from the well?

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot