Oil in the Gulf: The 100 Million Gallon Truth

By Sandy Prisant

The 24-hour news cycle and the explosion of media mean an awful lot of people need to do an awful lot of talking about the Gulf of Mexico Oil Catastrophe and anything periphal to it: the President's image,  volume of oil recovered, compensation claims, oyster beds, marshes, barriers, ruined vacations, Federal law, etc.

And BP is really OK with all that because it means a lot of help for them in keeping your eye off the ball.  So what should you do?  

Don't Listen. There is only one fact that matters and from which all consequences spring:

The consensus of US technical experts from the Government's flow rate panel, the University of Indiana  U.S. Geological Survey and Woods Hole Observatory  is that "from April 22 when the Deepwater Horizon rig sank until June 3 the well has gushed 1.26 million barrels of oil, or 52.9 million gallons." (Blomberg News) 

Since the leak cannot be stopped for at least another 75 days therafter, (until new side wells are completed)  the most conservative estimate insures a total spill of 3-3.5 million barrels.

 

 

According to the Department of Energy, there are 42 gallons of oil in one barrel. And that means the only fact you need to think about is this: By the end of August BP will have spilled into the Gulf, a minimum of:

 

130 MILLION GALLONS OF OIL

130 MILLION GALLONS OF OIL

130 MILLION GALLONS OF OIL