Another oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico

2010-09-03 00:25:03

HOUSTON, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Another oil rig exploded and caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, and there is no indication of oil sheen, officials said.

The blast, which occurred 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast, was reported by a commercial helicopter company at about 9:30 a.m. CDT Thursday, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel.

The fire was put out and there were no injuries among the 13 workers on board the rig, despite earlier reports of a worker wounded in the incident, officials said.

Multiple helicopters, two Coast Guard airplanes and four Coast Guard cutters were dispatched to the scene, west of the site of the April rig blast that unleashed the worst spill in U.S. history.

Earlier reports also said oil sheen was found near the site of the explosion. But U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Peter Troedsson said there is no evidence of an oil sheen and no visible leaks were spotted.

"We continue to investigate and to monitor the situation," he said in a news conference.

Mariner Energy, a Houston-based independent oil and gas exploration and production company that owns the Vermilion Oil Rig 380, confirmed the fire on the rig, but said the fire was not sparked by an explosion.

It started at one of platform's seven active wells, the company said. All the wells were shut after the explosion.

The company also confirmed that the 13 workers on the rig "have been evacuated and safely accounted for," and "now injuries have been reported."

"In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported," it added.

"Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to the incident," the company said, adding that the cause of the fire is not known and "an investigation will be undertaken."

During the last week of August, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate, according to Mariner Energy.

The platform is reportedly in about 340 feet of water, a location considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig had been gushing oil into the ocean for three months after the April 20 explosion.

U.S. President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting when the explosion was reported, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs said.

Mariner Energy said it has principal operations in the Permian Basin, South Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. The company said it had interests in about 350 federal offshore leases last year, with more than 110 of them in development.

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