BP inserted a "straw" with a working area 3.3% of the area of the pipe that is leaking into the gulf. At first they said they could pull 85% of the oil from the leak into that pipe, then they said it could be up to 50%.
They are now pulling 2000 barrels of oil per day into the pipe.
Apparently the pipe has a pressure plate that will seal the leak from the 20" pipe. By inserting the straw into the pipe, they are creating a back pressure that will force more oil from the upstream leak at the blow out preventer.
To date BP has not released images of the leak at the blow out preventer. They are preventing accurate measurements of the actual leak from the gulf floor. This is a crime scene taking place in U.S. controlled waters and a foreign owned corporation is blocking the U.S. government from accessing the scene of the crime.
UPDATE: See Video Below
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At first they said it was going to suck out 85% of the leak
The siphoning pipe inserted into the leak is 4 inches
The 4-inch tube was expected to work like a straw, sucking as much as 85 percent of the leaking oil into a tanker waiting on the surface. After a failed first attempt on Saturday, followed by a successful insertion that was subsequently dislodged, BP found that the third time was the charm.
Now they say it can suck out up to 50% of the leak
BP: 2,000 Barrels a day now captured from oil leak
By JEFFREY COLLINS (AP) – 4 hours ago
HAMMOND, La. — BP says its mile-long tube siphoning oil from a blown-out well is bringing more crude to the surface.
In a news release Tuesday, BP PLC says the narrow tube is now drawing 2,000 barrels a day for collection in a tanker, double the amount when it started operation Sunday.
BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles has said the company hopes the method can draw about half the leaking oil.
BP have put the leak at 5,000 barrels a day from the crippled well, but officials say its a rough estimate at best. Scientists who have studied video of the leak say the amount could be significantly more.
This is the only video of the leak they have released. There is a second leak upstream of this one at the blow out preventer.
This is the pipe they inserted
This is an approximate representation of a 4" pipe with a .5" wall thickness inserted into a 21" pipe with a 1" wall thickness.
Due to a larger fraction of the area of the pipe being taken by the walls of the pipe, and the very small diameter of the "stratw", the working area of the tube inserted into the leaking pipe is 3.4% of the working area of the outer pipe.
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Why is President Obama allowing BP to get away with this???
The Oil leak site is a crime scene.
The United States is being restricted from access to the crime scene by a foreign corporation.
BP has yet to release images of the leak occurring at the blow out preventer.
The insertion of the siphon tube is creating a back pressure. This back pressure is forcing more oil and gas to leak out of the upstream break at the blow out preventer.
We need an accurate, independent assessment of the leakage into the gulf of mexico. The amount of time that this leak has gone on without this is an outrage!
Why BP won't measure the oil leak
The New York Times reported Thursday that BP was planning to fly scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to Louisiana to conduct volume measurements. The oceanographers were poised to use underwater ultrasound equipment to measure the flow of oil and gas from the ocean floor when BP canceled the trip.
BP officials have portrayed measurement efforts as a distraction from the real work of plugging the leak. Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts challenged BP's estimated flow rate in a letter to the company's leadership last week, but BP is so far standing by its 5,000 barrel a day figure. Scientists and environmentalists worry that underestimating the flow rate will skew development of oil spill response capabilities as well as the debate over offshore drilling.
Why BP is digging in its heels on this issue is unclear, given that at this point the company has little to lose
obviously it doesn't. If an accurate measurement is made then the reality of this disaster will be known.
BP will do everything in their power to prevent the extent of their crimes to be known.
AP Photo: BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay testifies at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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you can track the leak spill as it moves into the loop current here
Interactive tracker of the gulf oil surface spill entering the loop current
Update:
This is what capturing 40% of the oil leak looks like
notice how much smaller the diameter of the 4" straw looks????
This pipe is bigger than 20" in diameter. MUCH BIGGER