A senior BP executive on Friday disputed a news report that the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is more than 10 times higher than earlier estimates, calling it “scare-mongering.”

National Public Radio — citing outside experts who reviewed video BP released Wednesday — is reporting that 70,000 barrels per day might be pouring out of BP’s damaged undersea well, far more than a federal and industry estimate of 5,000 barrels a day.

But Robert Dudley, BP’s managing director, told MSNBC on Friday that the 70,000 barrel figure “feels like a little exaggeration, a little bit of scare-mongering.” He reiterated the company’s view that it is impossible to gauge the amount of leaking oil accurately, but noted, “Five thousand [barrels] is a good estimate.”

The White House and the Interior Department said Friday they would review whether federal officials are adequately measuring potential environmental risks before approving oil-drilling permit applications.

The announcement follows a New York Times report that said the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which regulates the oil industry, gave the go-ahead to BP and other companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting approval from other agencies responsible for protecting endangered species and other marine wildlife.

The Council of Environmental Quality and the Interior Department, in which MMS resides, said Friday they would review how the National Environmental Policy Act is applied in drilling-permit decisions. NEPA requires federal agencies to consider the potential environmental effects of their decisions.

President Barack Obama excorciated the companies involved in the Gulf oil spill on Friday for failing to take responsibility. 

In remarks from the Rose Garden after a meeting with cabinet officials about ongoing spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama lectured the companies involved not only for the spill, but for the "ridiculous spectacle" of congressional hearings this week in which comapnies cast blame on one another for the accident.

"I know BP has committed to pay for the response effort and we will hold them to their obligation," he said. "I have to say though, I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearing into this matter."

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is putting new pressure on oil giant BP over the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, following media reports that it’s far larger than previously estimated.

“The public needs to know the answers to very basic questions: how much oil is leaking into the Gulf and how much oil can be expected to end up on our shores and our ocean environment?” wrote Markey, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, in a letter Friday to BP America Inc. CEO Lamar McKay.

“I am concerned that an underestimation of the flow may be impeding the ability to solve the leak and handle management of the disaster,” he added.

Over on our On The Money blog, my colleague Vicki Needham reports that the oil industry’s most powerful trade group is fighting Capitol Hill efforts to raise the cap on economic damages for offshore spills.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) on Friday provided a broad outline of mine safety improvements he’s seeking in response to the April 5 explosion at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch coal mine that killed 29 workers.

Rockefeller’s office, in a press release, said he is working on “new legislative approaches” on workplace safety that include:

* Additional workplace safety enforcement and accountability standards through the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

* Streamlining Pattern of Violation rules and regulations so that repeat offenders are subject to additional oversight and enforcement.

* Reducing the appeals backlog at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission in order to prevent companies from avoiding responsibility simply by filing appeals.

* Improved whistleblower protections to empower miners and all workers to report dangerous conditions.

* Increased fines and penalties for companies that routinely violate safety laws and regulations.

Rockefeller is also proposing amendments to the Wall Street reform bill on the Senate floor that would force mining companies to disclose information about safety hazards to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) vowed Friday to probe allegations that the Interior Department approved offshore drilling projects that could threaten endangered species without securing the needed permits.

“It is a very disturbing set of allegations,” Bingaman said Friday morning during an appearance on C-SPAN. “I don’t know if it is all true, but we certainly need to get to the bottom of it.”

The New York Times reported Friday that Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) “gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf.”

The story said that this included approval for the BP well that is now spewing thousands of barrels of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the April 20 accident at the Deepwater Horizon rig. MMS is the Interior branch that regulates offshore oil-and-gas drilling.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is scheduled to appear before Bingaman’s committee next week to discuss offshore drilling and the Gulf of Mexico spill.

On Thursday, an environmental group called the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue Interior over endangered species protection. The group alleges that Interior, under Salazar, has approved three offshore lease sales, over 100 seismic surveys and over 300 drilling operations without obtaining permits required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

* Amount of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico could be much higher than the 5,000 barrels-per-day estimate

National Public Radio is out with an “exclusive” analysis with this alarming conclusion: “There's at least 10 times as much oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico than official estimates suggest.”

“At NPR's request, experts analyzed video that BP released Wednesday. Their findings suggest the BP spill is already far larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska, which spilled at least 250,000 barrels of oil,” their story continues.

“BP has said repeatedly that there is no reliable way to measure the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by looking at the oil gushing out of the pipe. But scientists say there are actually many proven techniques for doing just that.”

The Environmental Protection Agency took a big step toward limiting industrial greenhouse gas emissions Thursday by spelling out how it will apply the Clean Air Act to large sources like power plants and oil refineries.

The action shows that EPA plans to move ahead in the absence of climate change legislation, which could add political pressure on lawmakers to pass a bill that gives polluters more flexibility and assistance.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) unveiled a sweeping climate and energy bill Wednesday that includes free emissions allowances for affected industries, trade protections for manufacturers and other benefits.