Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) observed in emulsified oil on April 29. Photo source: ©© NOAA
Excerpts, By Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011
In a detailed assessment of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers led by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have determined that the blown-out Macondo well spewed oil at a rate of about 57,000 barrels a day, totaling nearly 5 million barrels of oil released from the well between April 20 and July 15, 2010, when the leak was capped. In addition, the well released some 100 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas.
The results, published in the Sept. 5, 2011 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), are in line with the federal government’s official estimates. The accuracy of the measurements was crucial because, “Ultimately, the impact of the oil on the environment depends primarily on the total volume of oil released.”
“Over the past decade ultra deepwater oil platforms have gone from non-existent to representing about 1/3 of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil production and plans call for a growing number of such facilities.”
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