Workers rescued after oil platform fire in Gulf of Mexico http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/02/louisiana.oil.platform.explosion/index.html?hpt… Oil platform fire reported in Gulf of Mexico By the CNN Wire Staff September 2, 2010 4:58 p.m. EDT 13 survivors of the oil and gas production platform fire await rescue on Thursday. STORY HIGHLIGHTS * Louisiana governor says one worker is injured * Coast Guard reports a “sheen” from platform that produced oil and gas * The incident did not cause a spill, says company that owns rig * Thirteen people are accounted for after the fire, the Coast Guard says (CNN) — A well connected to an oil and gas production platform caught on fire in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, engulfing the vessel in flames about 100 miles off the central coast of Louisiana and forcing 13 people overboard, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said. All 13 people have been accounted for, said Petty Officer Bill Colclough of the Coast Guard. They were found floating in the Gulf, officials said. Mariner Energy, which owns the Vermilion Oil Rig 380, said none of the crew members was hurt in the incident, despite earlier reports of a single injured worker. But Jindal said one worker was injured. Jindal said the 13 were transported to Terrebonne General Hospital for evaluation. Also, Mariner indicated that the fire — which was first reported to the Coast Guard by workers on a nearby rig around 9:20 a.m. (10:20 a.m. ET) — was not sparked by an explosion. It started at one of the platform's seven active wells, the company said, though its cause is under investigation. The cause is not yet known, Jindal said Thursday afternoon. The company said an initial flyover of the site indicated “no hydrocarbon spill.” However, Coast Guard Petty Officer Elizabeth Bordelon said there is a sheen on the water at the site of the platform, measuring about 100 feet wide and stretching for one mile. Jindal said the sheen can't be confirmed. The fire at the platform is not out yet, but it has been contained, Bordelon said. “Mariner Energy recently told us that they shut in the production platform, I want to stress that neither the state nor the U.S. Coast Guard have verified that information at this time,” said Jindal. “We are working with the Coast Guard to ensure that the platform is indeed shut in and not leaking anything into the water.” Jindal said that Mariner has told him that all seven wells have been closed off and that what is burning now is from fuel in storage, and not from an active leak. During the last week of August, production from the platform averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas a day and 1,400 barrels (58,800 gallons) of oil, the company said. David Reed, a paramedic on board a nearby oil rig, said he suddenly saw “a bunch of smoke” from the direction of the Vermilion platform, and radios in his rig's control room started “lighting up like a Christmas tree” soon after. The first report of the fire came from Rotorcraft Leasing, a company that provides helicopter services for the industry, the Coast Guard said. The incident comes nearly five months after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 people and causing a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. That oil rig, contracted by BP, had 126 workers. It burned for three days before finally sinking. Thursday's incident took place aboard a production platform, which is built after a well is drilled and remains in place for years. Oil rigs drill the wells. The platforms pump pressure down the hole to keep the well flowing, and sometimes collect the oil or gas, or both. U.S. agencies and BP capped the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well July 15, stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf. The effects of the huge spill could hurt the region for years. The failure of the well's blowout preventer triggered the April 20 explosion, and crews are expected to remove the equipment from the well since it may hold valuable forensic evidence as to why it failed. The Obama administration tried to impose a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the wake of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon in April, but the ban is in legal limbo. A group of companies that provide boats and equipment to the deepwater drilling industry sued to overturn the ban and won in June. The government tried again in July, imposing a new moratorium and asking for the suit to be thrown out. A federal judge refused this week to dismiss it. The Vermilion platform did not violate the moratorium, said Melissa Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, which replaced the Minerals Management Service. “This was an oil and gas production platform in approximately 340 feet of water, 102 miles offshore Louisiana (80 nautical miles),” she said. “This platform was authorized to produce oil and gas at this water depth. The current suspension involves drilling rigs in water depths greater than 500 feet,” she said. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that the federal government has “assets ready” to respond to any environmental problems resulting from the fire on the Vermilion structure. Mariner Energy describes itself as one of the leading independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Gulf of Mexico. The company said it had interests in about 350 federal offshore leases last year, with more than 110 of the 350 in development. The company has about 300 employees. Its most recent quarterly net income was $1.7 million. Shares of Mariner Energy fell 60 cents to $22.75 on Thursday. The company is in the process of a planned merger with a larger company, Apache Corp. The merger is about four to six weeks away from completion, an Apache spokesman said. CNN's Vivian Kuo, Sarah Edwards, Mike Ahlers and Steve Hargreaves contributed to this report. added by: EthicalVegan
