September 2010 Vol. 237 No. 9

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Mariner Energy O&G Rig Catches Fire Off Louisiana Coast

In an accident at around 10 AM Sept. 2, parts of an oil and gas production rig exploded and caught fire 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, approximately 250 miles away from the Deepwater Horizon well that spilled crude into Gulf waters for much of the summer. Thirteen workers were on the rig at the time, and all have been rescued, although at least one is reported injured. UPDATE: As of 24 hours after the accident, reports of sheen on the water are being retracted. Mariner reports that automatic shutoff controls stopped the flow of oil and gas before the fire broke out.

Houston Chronicle energy guru Tom Fowler notes, “this is actually a production platform, and a relatively small one at that. If there is ongoing flow from the accident it would likely be much less than what followed the Deepwater Horizon accident.“

More reporting on the incident is available here:
Oil sheen spotted, fire burning on Gulf platform (Houston Chronicle blog NewsWatch: Energy)
Coast Guard confirms burning oil platform was in production; unclear where sheen comes from (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
First pictures of explosion available (Culturemap Houston)