What's 5,000 barrels a day?

In Alaska and nationwide, the Gulf of Mexico spill has become a political football, fanning the flames of the already-hot debate over offshore drilling.

Meanwhile, as pols and environmentalists and indigenous groups and industry reps argue over how badly we need more oil, we're watching at least 5,000 barrels -- about 210,000 gallons -- disappear into the ocean every day. (And that's going off the U.S. Coast Guard estimate, which some people say is pretty conservative; it could actually be much more.)

According to the Texas Oil & Gas Association, one barrel of oil produces 19.5 gallons of gasoline, 9.2 gallons of distillate fuel oil (diesel or home heating oil), 1.3 gallons of asphalt and road oil, and 0.2 gallons of kerosene, among about a half-dozen other products. So if the Coast Guard estimate is correct and the Gulf spill has been leaking 5,000 barrels of crude a day, that means so far what's gushed into the Gulf could have been:

-- Enough gasoline for the average American vehicle to drive the entire Interstate highway system 655 times and have enough gas left over to drive from Fairbanks to Nova Scotia with stops in San Diego and Key West;

-- Enough diesel to generate about a year's worth of electricity in a village the size of Galena;

-- Enough liquid asphalt to pave about nine miles of road (assuming a 12-foot lane width and a two-inch-thick layer of pavement, according to my friends at the state Department of Transportation);

-- About 5,740 miles' worth of jet fuel for a Boeing 747;

-- AND enough kerosene to power about 68 Coleman kerosene lanterns around the clock for a full year;

-- Plus coke, still gas, residual fuel oil, lubricants and a boatload of other petroleum products.

If you're interested in how BP plans to stop the flow, watch this video. (Two words: Robot submarines.)

Contact Maia Nolan at maia(at)alaskadispatch.com.