The Oil Flow Estimate

After a huge offshore oil spill, an oil company vice-president was put in charge of estimating how much oil was flowing from the blown-out well. He told a congressional subcommittee investigating the spill that the best estimate was about 5,000 barrels a day. Company engineers had calculated the flow could be 64,000 to 146,000 barrels a day, and those higher estimates were not passed on. He was charged with obstructing the congressional inquiry and with making false statements to federal investigators. He says he acted in good faith and gave the estimate he honestly believed.