WASHINGTON, June 15 (Xinhua) -- A team of U.S. scientists studying the Gulf of Mexico oil spill estimate on Tuesday significantly increased their estimate of how much oil is spilling into the Gulf.

The team said the "most likely flow rate of oil today" ranges from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. That's a jump from last week's estimate of 20,000 to 40,000 barrels per day.

The new numbers are based on a combination of scientific data, including an analysis of high-resolution video taken by underwater robots, pressure meters, sonar, and measurements of oil collected by the containment device on top of the well.

Leaking oil is seen in the image grabbed from the BP's live video feed monitoring the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, June 15, 2010. A team of U.S. scientists studying the Gulf of Mexico oil spill estimate on Tuesday significantly increased their estimate of how much oil is spilling into the Gulf. The team said the "most likely flow rate of oil today" ranges from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. That's a jump from last week's estimate of 20,000 to 40,000 barrels per day.

According to the Deepwater Horizon incident Joint Information Center, the revised numbers were reached by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Chair of the National Incident Command's Flow Rate Technical Group Marcia Mcnutt, who is also director of the U.S. Geological Survey.
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