BURAS, La., (Reuters) – BP Plc estimates that a worst-case scenario rate for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be about 100,000 barrels of oil per day, according to an internal company document released yesterday by a senior U.S. congressional Democrat.
Its estimate of up to 100,000 barrels (4.2 million gallons/15.9 million liters) of oil per day is far higher than the current U.S. government estimate of up to 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters) gushing daily from the ruptured offshore well into the sea.
BP spokesman Toby Odone said the document appeared to be genuine but the estimate applied only to a situation in which a key piece of equipment called a blowout preventer is removed.
“Since there are no plans to remove the blowout preventer, the number is irrelevant,” he said.
The British energy giant, still struggling to stop a leak that began on April 20 and is causing an economic and environmental disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast, is planning to raise $50 billion to cover the cost of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, London’s Sunday Times reported.
The oil spill is now in its 62nd day and has dealt a blow to fishing and tourism industries across four Gulf states, soiling coastlines that are a playground for tourists and vital habitat for wildlife.
The amount of oil spurting from the well has been a matter of considerable controversy in the past two months, with critics saying BP consistently understated the flow rate.
The internal BP document, which is undated, was released by U.S. Representative Ed Markey, chairman of a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The document appears to estimate the highest potential flow of oil if key components of the well fail. It does not indicate that the 100,000 barrels per day is BP’s estimate of the actual amount gushing from the ruptured Gulf of Mexico well.
“Right from the beginning, BP was either lying or grossly incompetent,” Markey told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“First they said it was only 1,000 barrels, then they said it was 5,000 barrels.”
But BP’s Odone said, “I don’t think there’s been any underestimating. We’ve always said we would deal with whatever volume of oil was being spilled and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The document was posted on the Internet at http://globalwarming.house. gov/files/WEB/flowrateBP.pdf
London’s Sunday Times, without citing any sources, said BP planned to raise $10 billion from a bond sale, $20 billion from banks and $20 billion from asset sales over the next two years to cover the cost of the spill.