BP's maths doesnt add up............

[Lincsbodger]

According the the CEO of BP

The containment cap is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface which is being processed on the surface,' he said.

Asked what proportion that represented of the total oil leaking, Hayward said: 'At the moment it's difficult to say but we would expect it to be the majority, probably the vast majority of the oil.'


Wait a minute. We were told the well was leaking 200,000 gallons a day. Theres 50 gallons in a barrel, so 10,000 x 50 = 500,000 gallons.

Somebody is lying somewhere.

 

[joinerjohn]

With Maths like that, he'll probably be given a peerage and drafted into the treasury department.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I thought there was 42 gallons in a production barrel?
Still over double of the estimated leak volume though.

 

[lifesagasman]

50 US gallons = 45 Imp gallons?

 

[oompah]

1 barrel of crude oil = 42 US gallons (159 liters or 35 imperial gallons).

Bit more confusion on figures.

 

[EddieM]

A Barrel is 40 US gals.

 

[lifesagasman]

now my head hurts...

is crude measured differently to refined?

 

[empip]

Hurt no more...

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

A Barrel is 40 US gals.

I'll have a bit of that

 

[lifesagasman]

thanks, empip, so I take it crude is not sold/traded in the familiar 45/Imp 50/US barrels we are familiar with in the oil/chemical products world? Misleading, that.

 

[Lincsbodger]

even at the worst rate, 10k barrels is still 350,000 gallons, stile nearly twice what they claimed was leaking out in the first place.

 

[empip]

'Tis an Americana unit of measure - not an actual tub / barrel / drum size of today.
-0-

 

[lifesagasman]

cheers, empip, i'd never given it much thought before.
I suppose we could take heart in the knowledge that although this catastrophe is a result of man's exploration/exploitation of resources, it is something which could have happened naturally at some point in time as a result of geological events, with similar, but non-containable, results.
It must be heart-breaking to live near and see the consequences of the 'spill'.

 

[empip]

Was that 'newspaper talk"? The BP official line from their website appears to mention the amount of 'oily water' being collected - didn't notice a guesstimate of actual oil volume leaking.

http://www.bp.com/articlelisting.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=2006635

-0-

 

[lifesagasman]

My post wasn't 'newspaper talk'! I guess you mean Lincs'?