The Fate of the Oil

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The magnitude of the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe will depend on the oil's fate: the amount of oil released, how the oil is transformed chemically and physically, and how far it travels. To date, scientists have a good handle on only the first of these questions.

The Fate of the Oil: Updates

25 April 2011 | ScienceInsider

Details Revealed on BP's Funds for Continued Oil Spill Research

by Lauren Schenkman

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Just over a year since oil began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown Macondo well, there is now a plan for distributing the biggest pot...

17 December 2010 | ScienceInsider

Politics Buried Science in Louisiana Sand Berms, Oil Commission Finds

by Erik Stokstad

The idea to guard against this year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by building offshore sand berms was controversial from the start, and scientists voiced many...

22 November 2010 | ScienceInsider

How BP Clashed and Cooperated With Scientists

by Eli Kintisch

A detail-rich, 39-page working paper from staff members of the oil spill commission says the government and BP have "much to take pride in" for their response to the...

6 October 2010 | ScienceInsider

Government Slipped Up on Oil Spill Estimates, Says Panel

by Richard A. Kerr

One of five staff member reports released today by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling criticizes the federal government's efforts to scientifically...

6 October 2010 | ScienceInsider

Oil Spill Panel Says EPA, NOAA Weren't Ready to Deploy Dispersants

by Erik Stokstad

The staff members of a presidential commission today criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for being inadequately prepared to deal with...

2 September 2010 | ScienceNOW

A New Tool for Tracking Oil Spills

by Phil Berardelli

Model predicted where and when BP spill would hit Gulf Coast shores

24 August 2010 | ScienceNOW

Bacteria Are Gobbling Gulf Oil

by Kristen Minogue

Study finds microbes migrating to oil plumes

20 August 2010 | ScienceInsider

New Light on Spilled Oil, But Only a Bit

by Richard A. Kerr

A widely reported paper in Science this week shows that microbes were not rapidly degrading the oil in a plume streaming from the blown-out BP well in late June....

19 August 2010 | ScienceNOW

Report Paints New Picture of Gulf Oil

by Richard A. Kerr

Plumes not as dark, massive as media reports suggested

5 August 2010 | ScienceInsider

Federal Scientists: Guarded Optimism on Oil Spill

by Eli Kintisch

The overall mood at the White House yesterday was upbeat with the news that there’s seemingly less of a risk of ecological impacts of oil and that the well is...

4 August 2010 | ScienceInsider

Mother Nature Having Her Way With Gulf Oil

by Richard A. Kerr

Fully three-quarters of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil that spewed from BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico bypassed efforts to collect it or burn it...

4 August 2010 | ScienceInsider

ScienceInsider Tweeting Live From Dispersant Hearing

by Eli Kintisch

This morning, ScienceInsider's Eli Kintisch is tweeting live from a hearing on dispersant use in the Gulf of Mexico here....

2 August 2010 | ScienceInsider

Five Ways Oil Drops Could Still Be Deadly to Gulf

by Eli Kintisch

Last week the debate about the fate of oil in the gulf took, according to major media reports, an optimistic turn. Now Representative Ed Markey (D–MA) is raising questions...

22 July 2010 | ScienceInsider

Good News in Gulf: Government Reduces Area Closed to Fishing by One-Third

by Lauren Schenkman

For the first time in months, the government has good news for Gulf of Mexico fishermen: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has decided to reopen a 68,345...

2 July 2010 | ScienceInsider

How the Oil Plume Changed One Scientist's Life

by Erik Stokstad

The plumes of oil and gas spreading from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, which have the potential to create a low-oxygen dead zone, have attracted intense scrutiny from researchers. As part...

30 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Oil Dispersant Study Released by EPA, But Big Questions Remain

by Erik Stokstad

The Environmental Protection Agency released data today from its first round of toxicity testing on dispersants that could be used on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,...

22 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Can Sonar Detect Undersea Oil Plumes?

by Robert F. Service

Among the biggest questions about the Deepwater Horizon spill is how much oil remains underwater and where it is going. Figuring it out has been frustratingly slow with existing...

16 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

One Ballsy Proposal to Stop the Leak

by Adrian Cho

Is there a quick way to stop the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico? One maverick scientist says the answer may be as simple as dropping steel...

16 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Obama Raises Profile of Gulf Restoration in Primetime Speech

by Erik Stokstad

Scientists know that the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon well is just the latest affliction for coastal wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico. So they were pleased when...

15 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Gulf Oil Flow as Fast as 60,000 Barrels Per Day

by Richard A. Kerr

Administration officials announced late today that the Deepwater Horizon well is most likely gushing 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day and possibly even more. The previous best estimates fell...

15 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Slick Models Suggest 'It's Anyone's Guess' When Oil Will Reach Atlantic

by Eli Kintisch

BOULDER, COLORADO—As the gulf oil spill grows, scientists here are refining models of the slick's behavior in hopes of developing a more accurate picture of its future movements. They...

15 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Scientists Get Seats on Oil Spill Commission

by Erik Stokstad

Two prominent scientists will serve on the presidential commission tasked with investigating the causes of the Deepwater Horizon accident and recommending ways to deal with future oil spills. Cherry...

14 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

NOAA Puts Oil Spill Data on One Site

by Lauren Schenkman

Nearly 2 months after the 20 April explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform triggered the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. government has finally...

11 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

What the Gulf Disaster Could Tell Us About Sudden Global Warming

by Lauren Schenkman

Could the gushing BP well help explain an ancient climate mystery? Today, a crew of scientists are setting off for roughly 10 days to take measurements near the gushing...

10 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

New Estimate Bumps Oil Flow to as Much as 40,000 Barrels a Day

by Lauren Schenkman

One of the government's scientific teams tasked with estimating the rate at which oil is flowing out of the burst well have announced a new figure: Between 20,000 and...

9 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Huge Oil Plumes Confirmed, But Effects Remain Unknown

by Erik Stokstad

Researchers have confirmed that two large plumes in the Gulf of Mexico consist, as suspected, of dissolved hydrocarbons. Early analyses of samples from recent cruises have found hydrocarbons up...

4 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

NOAA Asks for Time Out on Oil Plume Research Cruises

by Erik Stokstad

Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), yesterday repeated her plea for researchers to be cautious in collecting and interpreting evidence of underwater plumes of...

4 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Oil Likely Headed North

by Richard A. Kerr

Modelers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, have dramatized what researchers have been pointing out for weeks: Some of the oil being spilled into the Gulf...

2 June 2010 | ScienceInsider

Where Is the Oil Headed?

by Robert F. Service

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) currently tracks wind and tidal data in the gulf. That data has helped offer an initial, course-grained look at the likely path...

28 May 2010 | ScienceInsider

Blogging Scientists Tracking 'Second Plume' in Gulf

by Eli Kintisch

Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia is on a 2-week research cruise to study the deepwater plumes from the Deepwater Horizon oil leak. The research vessel Walton Smith...

27 May 2010 | ScienceInsider

Plumbing the Depths

by Erik Stokstad

NOAA's research vessel Gordon Gunter is headed toward the site of the oil leak to help investigate a key question: How much oil is spreading under water? The 68-meter-long fisheries...

27 May 2010 | ScienceInsider

Gulf Spill Big But Not Enormous, Yet

by Richard A. Kerr

A federally convened expert team has estimated that oil has been gushing from the wrecked Gulf of Mexico well two to four times faster than first guessed. At 12,000...

27 May 2010 | ScienceInsider

How to Kill a Well With Gravity

by Richard A. Kerr

Oil giant BP plc has a very long straw stuck 3048 meters into the Gulf of Mexico sea floor with oil and gas spouting out the top at several...

26 May 2010 | ScienceInsider

Follow the Top-Kill Procedure, Now Under Way

by Eli Kintisch

A helpful animation from CNN explains how mud will slow the oil flow and concrete will stop it completely—if the procedure works. In a detailed, 13-minute video produced by...