National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrator Janet Lubcenco said Thursday that most of the massive oil spill spreading in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is out of reach of the loop current, a powerful warm water current that connects the eastern Gulf to the Florida Straits.

"The bulk of the oil remains well to the north of the loop current," Lubcenco said on a conference call. Although there were reports that a portion of the oil slick reached the current, it's unlikely the oil will reach south Florida in large quantities, she added.

"Dispersion and evaporation would reduce volumes significantly," and consistently strong winds and ocean currents would be required to carry sheen and tar balls to the shore, Lubcenco said.

Lubcenco declined to provide an updated estimate of the rate at which oil is leaking from a deepwater well in the Gulf. The spill, which followed an explosion and the sinking last month of Transocean Ltd.'s (RIG) Deepwater Horizon rig, was previously estimated by NOAA at about 5,000 barrels a day. But BP PLC (BP), the company responsible for the spill, said Thursday it was siphoning that amount through a mile-long straw, without capturing all the oil that was leaking into the ocean.

Lubcenco said the official estimate was always understood to be "very rough," and that a government task force is working towards a more accurate number. "We've known all along that doing so would be extraordinarily difficult," she added.

Lubcenco said a more accurate estimate hasn't been reached, because it would require lowering additional subsea equipment, and currently the priority has been stopping the leak. "It's a fairly crowded arena down there where the spill is happening," she said. "Having more vehicles there makes it more likely that there would be accidents."

-By Angel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9214; angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com
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