Forty-thousand barrels a day.

That’s the new official estimate of how much oil could be spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP Deeepwater well, government officials said in a late afternoon press briefing today.

According to Dr. Marcia McNutt, director of the U.S. Geological Survey and chair of the Flow Rate Technical Group, the range of oil flowing from the runaway well is somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels per day — double the official estimate announced by McNutt on May 27th.

The figures do not include the estimated 20 percent increase from cutting the riser to allow a containment cap to be placed on the well. Nor does it reflect the decrease in oil which is captured by the cap.

Documents from today’s briefing are combined in the file below.

Update, Flow Rate Technical Group –

President Obama’s Kick-Ass Moment

Q: Have you talked directly to Tony Hayward the CEO of BP?

Obama: I haven’t spoken to him directly and here’s the reason. …When you talk to someone like the CEO of BP he’s going to say all the right things to me. But I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions.

Obama speaks about the BP oil spill

Oil flowing from beneath the 'cap'

BP’s latest attempt to plug the well gushing oil on the ocean floor appears headed the way of “Top Kill,” “Junk Shot” and the rest: failure.

Above is a grab from a live video feed just a few minutes ago (see time/date stamp inside red box), showing oil still flowing freely — despite the cap placed on it last night.

I write more about the failed attempt in my True/Slant blog.