[mojitojoe]

As long as the Obama administration allows the 5,000 figure to stand, BP could be in a better position to avoid paying millions of dollars more from lawsuits because settlements will take into account the size of the spill. Federal officials have supported BP’s public stance that measuring the rate of the leak is not as important as stopping it.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/20/94581/low-estimate-of-oil-spills-size.html

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/18/94415/bps-secrecy-keep-facts-on-gulf.html

[TexasCajun]

[Diogenesis]

"Obama biggest recipient of BP cash
BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million
to federal …with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama"

"U.S. exempted BP's Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study"

"Obama admin exempted BP's Gulf drilling from environmental impact study "

"Obama White House and British Petroleum (BP), which pumped $71,000 into Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign
are covering up the magnitude of the volcanic-level oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico"

"Obama sheltered BP's Deepwater Horizon rig from regulatory requirement"

"Red Flags Were Ignored Aboard Doomed Rig "

"US allowed drilling 'without required permits"

"U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits
The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP …
to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits "

[Pearls Before Swine]

It’s pretty easy to figure out. Take the cross-sectional area of the pipe and multiply it by the exit velocity of the oil (which can be estimated from the video footing) and you’ve got the volume of oil per unit time exiting the hole. Convert to units of choice as needed. There shouldn’t be a variation of a factor of nearly 20 in the estimates. Maybe a factor of 2 or 3, worst case.

[richardtavor]

Oh good grief...you think obama gives a tinker’s damn about BP’s legal exposure? BP’s exposure will be based on actual and punitive damages, not some fantasy dreamed up by some ambulance chaser. People like to make outlandish claims (like the lawyers) in order to line their own pockets...obama has no reason to protect BP (a British Company.)

[Blood of Tyrants]

But Steve Wereley, an associate professor of mechanical engineering from Purdue University, told Congress on Wednesday that the well could be spewing 95,000 barrels of oil daily into the gulf, based on video footage released by BP.

What a bunch of crap! There is NO WAY that anyone can make any kind of estimate with any degree of accuracy base on video footage. It's like looking at a fire hose squirting water and making a wild assed guess at how much is coming out.

[Danae]

In few words... you bet your ass they are hiding the extent and magnitude of the Spill. Furthermore they are hiding just how bad it can get.

When the submersibles are reporting “volcanoes” of oil.... that HAS to be HUGE. Volcanoes do not come in small sizes.

[Danae]

I forgot to mention, there is talk of Nationalizing BP’s holdings in the gulf of Mexico to pay for the damages. Google BP and Nationalization and that brings up a lot of chatter.

I think they are hiding the possibilities until it becomes impossible to hide. THEN they will ramp it up into Rham’s “Crisis” level and use it as justification in Nationalizing BP. Shoot they did it with GM, don’t think they won’t do it here as well, constitutional or not.

[SatinDoll]

From the way this has been handled, by Obama and BP, I have one observation: they both have ‘something’ to hide and it’s probably the same thing.

Early on there was speculation that a North Korean suicide submersible, formerly in Cuba, detonated itself over the sea floor-bottom well and caused the destruction we see today.

Two things not frequently mentioned: if the above is true then BP would never receive insurance payments due to “act of war” clauses; Obama would do everything possible to cover-up an act of war by North Korea against the U.S.A.

[Political Junkie Too]

They're hiding it simply so that it doesn't become a stain on the Obama presidency the way the Katrina disaster defined Bush's.

-PJ