OIL FLOW HAS INCREASED...OR AT LEAST THE NUMBERS USED TO DESCRIBE IT HAVE

I think that if I was in charge of making up the numbers to report to the public I'd go real high. That way, every once in a while I could lower them a bit; make everybody feel better. I'm thinking these guys have never been in any kind of negotiations before.

"The official estimate of the flow rate from the leaking gulf oil well has surged again, with government officials announcing Tuesday that 35,000 barrels (1.47 million gallons) to 60,000 barrels (2.52 million gallons) of oil a day are now gushing from the reservoir deep beneath the gulf.

Just last week, government-appointed scientists on the Flow Rate Technical Group estimated the leak at roughly 20,000 to 40,000 barrels a day (840,000 to 1.68 million gallons), but that came with a caveat: They were using older data, including video taken of the damaged riser pipe when it still had multiple leaks.

After the pipe was cut on June 3, and a containment cap placed on it, the flow became easier to estimate. In the past 24 hours scientists have taken direct measurements of pressures inside the so-called top hat that is collecting oil and gas."
Washington Post