"Oil-Spill Flow Rate Estimate Surges To 35,000 To 60,000 Barrels a Day"

"The official estimate of the flow rate from the leaking gulf oil well has surged again, with government officials announcing Tuesday that 35,000 to 60,000 barrels (1.47 million to 2.52 million gallons) of oil a day are now gushing from the reservoir deep beneath the gulf.

The dramatic increase in the estimated flow rate raises the question of whether BP and the government were fully prepared to cope with the hydrocarbons spewing up through the gulf floor.

Currently BP has the capacity to capture only 18,000 barrels of day coming from the well."

Joel Achenbach and David Fahrenthold report for the Washington Post June 15, 2010.