Video footage (see yesterday’s update) of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has caused a drastic upwards adjustment in estimates of the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico each day. The only previous figure, of 5,000 barrels per day, came from the US Coastguard.

The Guardian quotes a figure of 70,000 barrels a day from Steve Werely of Purdue (with a range of 56,000-84,000) and a ‘back of the envelope’ estimate of 20,000-100,000 barrels/day from Eugene Chiang at Berkeley. Both are close to BP’s worse-case scenario of 60,000 barrels/day, given to Congress behind closed doors last week.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reports similarly revised upwards estimates based on analysis of satellite photos of the slick. The paper also reports that BP declined the assistance of two researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Richard Camilli and Andy Bowen, who were ready to apply an ultrasound technique used to measure flow from undersea hot springs to the leak.

Last week, the BBC compared Deepwater Horizon to the biggest oil spills. At the time, it was nowhere near the top 10.