You've got to love breathless headlines, full of the 'best spin' possible.
BP manages to catch some leaking crude oil
Canwest News Service - June 4, 2010
It's estimated BP is siphoning oil at a rate of about 1,000 barrels a day so far. The damaged well has been spewing between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels a day since April.
Allen said the containment cap had not made a perfect seal over the riser pipe, so oil may still be able to escape even after the vents are closed.
1,000 / 12,000 = 8.3%
1,000 / 25,000 = 4.2%
But what does SOME really mean if we choose to use the Worst Case scenario numbers, that BP gave Congress, behind closed doors? It seems we are approaching that 'Worst Case' ...
1,000 / 60,000 = 1.7%
Yes, I guess, that might qualify as "some" of the Oil being captured.
Of course that should be immediately follow by the question:
Well that means "SOME" of it is still gushing, Right?
How Much ... are in each of those 'some's?
Last week NY Times reported on that hush-hush disclosure by BP to Congress, in case you missed it:
Tracking the Oil Spill in the Gulf
New York Times -- Monday, May 31, 2010
The "BP worst case" estimate is based on a figure given by a senior BP executive to members of Congress in a closed-door briefing on May 4. The executive acknowledged that in the worst case, if the leak accelerated, the flow rate could be 60,000 barrels (or 2.5 million gallons) a day.
Where were the breathless headlines, about that no-so-hot 'spin'?
60,000 Barrels that is a "bit more" than the 5,000 Barrel a day, that BP has been telling the Public for weeks now!?
About 12x TIMES more than we hear about in Press Releases and Daily Headlines!
Maybe the MSM should update their "Fact Sheets" "Talking Point Sheets", eh?
And maybe they should learn how to make a few Pie Charts too, to illustrate WHAT "kind of" 'Some's they're talking about ... Afterall any good "qualifier word" deserves to have its rationalizations, see the 'light of day' ...
When you hear the Press Releases talking about "Some Success" -- here's "some" of what they really mean:
The "grey pieces" of Pie, represent the "SOME" of the daily gushers, that we might consider "Unsuccessfully" Captured.
Isn't Math fun? Especially when you get to choose the Denominators!
Here's a few more Word-Pictures, that might help you grasp the scope of this National Disaster:
Using the Minimum Govt Estimate, of 12,000 Barrels of Day given in that NYTimes story, here's a "common sense" equivalent of How Big the Daily Gusher really is [Minus 1,000 of course]:
Houston, I think, we have a Problem!
For the math behind the last two charts, see my post:
How BIG is 12 Thousand Barrels, anyways?
by jamess -- Tue Jun 01, 2010
So the next time you hear your favorite News Anchor say "BP is having Some Success!
Well call them up, send them an email, comment on their Facebook page:
Well, that means "SOME" of it is still gushing out, Right?
EXACTLY How Much ... are in each of those 'some's?
as common citizens, we can at least, still DO that much!
========== Updated report ===========
UPDATE 2-BP increases amount of oil being collected from leak
Captured oil increases to 6,000 barrels in a day
June 5 (Reuters)
U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen told reporters the containment effort was working "with caveats", although it was still only collecting part of the leaking oil at this stage.
"In the first full 24-hour cycle yesterday ... they were able to bring up ... 6,000 barrels of oil from the well," Allen said, speaking in Theodore, Alabama.
Using the government's highest estimate of 19,000 barrels (800,000 gallons/3 million litres) per day spewing from the blown-out Macondo well, the 6,000 barrels captured on Friday would represent nearly a third.
Well that's a big improvement: 32% is better than 4% by a long shot!
But if you use BP's "worse case" numbers that they gave Congress "behind closed doors", per the NYTimes:
6,000 / 60,000 = 10% Captured
100% - 10% = 90% Not Captured
Still it's progress.
And that's what the people want.
Thank you Thad Allen for the Updates, and keeping us informed.
