Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Could Fuel 50,000 Cars

Exactly what does all that oil spilling in the Gulf Of Mexico really amount to?

Friday, May 21, 2010 1:46 GMT

Language tracking company The Global Language Monitor is quantifying the ongoing BP Oil Spill in simpler terms, given that experts say 5,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil are being lost each day.

For starters, that whole mess of oil could fuel 50,000 cars on California’s Pacific Coast Highway driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Here’s the break down: One barrel is filled with 42 gallons of oil, which produces 19.5 gallons of crude gasoline.

That means a typical car that gets 20 mpg could travel roughly 390 miles on just one barrel of oil.

That’s the approximate distance from San Francisco to L.A., so if the spill has been spewing 5,000 to 50,000 barrels each day since April 20, that’s enough power to fuel just as many cars down the route daily.

Another equivalency: 5,000 barrels of oil produce 20,500 gallons of kerosene, which could fuel a 747 aircraft for 5.7 minutes.