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Well may gush for two to four more years
June 21st, 2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
If the oil is not capped form the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, that exploded and sank in April, the oil could be gushing for two to four more years.Former BP CEO Tony Hayward says the reservoir that feeds the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico probably still holds about 2 billion gallons of oil.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Hayward appeared before a House subcommittee, and estimated that the reservoir tapped by the out-of-control well holds at least 50 million barrels of oil. At 42 gallons per barrel, that's 2.1 billion gallons.
According to government estimates, anywhere from 73.5 million to 126 million gallons have gushed from the breached wellhead - whether into the water or captured.
That means the reservoir still holds 94 to 97 percent of its oil. If the flow can not be tapped, with its current flow rate, it would take from two to nearly four years for all the oil to leak from the field.