The office of Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) today released previously unseen video of the oil volcano erupting from the failed blowout preventer (BOP) of the Deepwater Horizon. In 20 minutes of video posted to his YouTube channel, we get the best look yet at the disaster unfolding more than a mile underwater in the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the first footage of the underwater oil disaster in process since the White House and BP consented to the release of 30 seconds of video taken earlier this month. Once that video was released, scientists were quick to revise estimates of the disaster from 200,000 to 3 million gallons of oil released every day.

First is a long shot of the BOP, taken during the late night of Saturday May 15. The pipes you see extending to the right are part of the collapsed infrastructure of the Deepwater Horizon The point from which the oil is gushing is the top of the BOP. Watch it:

The second clip definitely seems more frightening, even though it’s the same shot as the above. This video is a closeup of the BOP and clearly shows the extent to which dark oil is erupting from the failed blowout preventer. Watch it:

(You can see the whole video from which the previous two clips were cut, as obtained by Senator Bill Nelson, here.)

As kgrandia posts at the Seminal, this video, taken yesterday, is the reality of the complete ineffectiveness of the straw supposedly sucking up 20% of the oil. Ha! This video shows the big pipe, and what is effectively a small straw inserted into the oil gusher. Watch it:

Two more clips. Here is a video similar to the one first released by BP and the White House that shows a black cloud of oil gushing from the pipe.

And finally, a shot of the oil volcano from May 10.