The government's Flow Rate Technical Group estimates that the BP well is now leaking 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico, the Interior Department said in a statement. Last Thursday saw the release of three preliminary estimates of the flow from before the well's riser pipe was sheared, ranging from 12,600 to 50,000 barrels a day. Initial estimates of the flow were 5,000 barrels of oil a day.
6/16/10 update: Hightower on BP's record of willful and egregious violations of safety code, and on their CEO with a big mouth: http://www.jimhightower.com//node/7171